


I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. I 









UX IT ED ST ATES F A M E R I lU . I 






<^ 




REVOSMQN C. BABERJM). 
Bishop of ALE, Chni 

.... 



GUIDE-BOOK 



ADMINISTRATION OF THE DISCIPLINE 



OF THE 



ht\BYni i|iK0pl Cfcttnjf* 



BY OSMON 0. BAKER, D. D. 




PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 



230 MULBERRY STREET. 

1855. 






' ifr 5 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, 

BY CARLTOK & PHILLIPS, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District 

of New- York. 



THE LIBRARY 
OF CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON! 



PREFACE. 



The design of this little manual is to furnish 
junior preachers with a brief, plain Guide for 
the correct discharge of their official duties. 
We have made no attempt to explain and 
defend our ecclesiastical system ; this has 
been sufficiently done in several popular 
works, which are widely spread among our 
people. Nor have we aimed at endeavouring 
to impress our rising ministry with a deeper 
sense of ministerial obligation, and to set 
forth the moral and religious elements which 
compose the character of "able ministers of 
the New Testament." There are already 
many extensive and able treatises upon these 
varied topics. But there is a demand, we 
apprehend, for a practical work which shall 



6 PREFACE. 

descend to the very minutiae of the pastor's 
daily duties. 

In preparing our manual, we have found 
ourselves treading in an unbeaten path : none 
have attempted a work of this kind, if we may 
except Bishop Hedding's most admirable " Dis- 
course on the Administration of the Discipline." 
This discourse has created a desire for a more 
extended work of the same general character. 
By the extension and division of our work, 
the young preacher is now often necessarily put 
immediately in pastoral charge, and is conse- 
quently deprived of the counsels and experi- 
ence of senior preachers, which were formerly 
enjoyed. 

We are not unaware of the difficulty of 
furnishing a work which shall be generally 
acceptable, from the different usages which 
prevail, to some extent, in different parts of 
the country, and the conflicting opinions of 
leading men : but it has been our aim to 
ascertain the general views of the best in- 
formed upon the several topics discussed, and 
to present them in a brief and lucid manner. 



PREFACE. 7 

We have endeavoured to give particular 
attention to the several sections relating to 
Church trials ; guarding, on the one hand, 
against too close an analogy to civil proceed- 
ings and mere ecclesiastical technicalities ; 
and, on the other, against a loose and arbi- 
trary mode of procedure. The evils which 
the Church has suffered from these causes 
should put every administrator on his guard. 
But we have found it impossible to express 
our meaning with clearness and precision 
without employing legal terms more fre- 
quently than we have desired. 

This work is not presented as an official 
one ; it is simply suggestive and advisory, 
for which the author is alone responsible. It 
is not a record of legal decisions by which the 
administration of the Church is to be govern- 
ed, but a brief compend, exhibiting rather the 
usage than the law of the Church. Most ap- 
propriately can we employ the language of our 
late senior bishop : " I have not the vanity to 
suppose it is free from errors, but it is an offer- 
ing of the best light I have on the subject. It 



8 PREFACE. 

may be proper to say, however, that on most 
of the points which contain opinions on dis- 
cipline I have conversed frequently and 
largely with many of our most enlightened 
and able ministers, and they agree with these 
opinions." 

For many years past, w T e have noted down 
every valuable suggestion which we have 
heard or read relating to our practical econo- 
my; and having modified, written, and re- 
written many of them frequently, we are not 
able now T to give the credit which is due for 
many of these suggestions. At the earnest 
request of many friends this little manual is 
given to the public, hoping that it may prove 
a vade meaim to the young minister, and 
render some aid in the discharge of the du- 
ties of the pastorate. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

Section I. — Members. 



PAGH 



1. Pastors the constituted authority to receive members 23 

2. Membership should not depend upon a vote 24 

3. Receiving members residing in another charge 24 

4. How expelled members can be received 25 

5. How withdrawn members can be received « 26 

6. Reception of members from other orthodox Churches 26 

7. Orthodox Churches denned 27 

8. The " usual questions " propounded 27 

Section II. — Probationers. 

1. Caution in receiving members on trial 28 

2. By whom received 29 

3. General qualifications required 29 

4. Period of probation 30 

5. Rights and privileges of probationers 31 

6. Not liable to Church trial 32 

Section III. — Withdrawal. 

1. Church relation depends upon the pleasure of the parties 34 

2. When the Church can be a party to a withdrawal 34 

3. When a member can claim a right to withdraw 35 

4. The Church may suffer a withdrawal 36 

5. Relation of societies which reject regularly-appointed pas- 

tors 37 

6. When a request to withdraw can be recalled 37 

7. Relation of such persons as refuse to perform their cove- 

nant vows , 37 



PAGE 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE CONFERENCES. 

Section I. — Annual Conferences. 

1. First Annual Conference .... 38 

2. Districts 38 

3. Circuits 39 

4. Relation of Episcopacy to the General and Annual Confer- 

ences 40 

5. Prerogatives of the president of an Annual Conference....... 41 

6. Division of circuits •. 42 

7. Commencement of Conference year 42 

8. Who must attend Conference 43 

9. Preachers refusing to go to their work , 43 

10. Demanding a location , , , , , 43 

11. When the act of location takes place , .... 43 

12. Certificate of location ,.. 44 

13. Readmission . 44 

14. Withdrawal a bar to readmission...,.,... , 44 

15. Preachers from the British, Irish, and Canada Conferences- 44 

16. Admission from other Churches 44 

17. Pdghts of superannuated preachers , , 45 

18. Their Quarterly Conference relations... 45 

19. The relation of superannuated preachers to individual 

societies 45 

20. Preacher on trial 45 

21. Term of service on an individual charge — 46 

22. Every effective preacher must receive an appointment 46 

23. Preachers appointed to schools and colleges , 46 

24. Advisory character of Conference requests respecting ap- 

pointments .,.,,,.,..» 46 

Section II. — Quarterly Conferences, 

1. Origin of Quarterly Conferences 47 

2. Powers 47 

3. Members 48 

4. President 49 

5. President when two circuits are united 49 

6. Secretary 49 

7. Power over Sunday schools and Sunday-school societies 49 



CONTENTS. 11 

PAGE 

8. Sunday-school quarterly report of the preacher to be enter- 

ed on the journals 50 

9. By whom the Quarterly Conference must be appointed 50 

10. Adjourning from day to day 50 

11. Adjourned by the president 51 

12. Quorum 51 

13. Approval of the Minutes 51 

Section III. — Leaders' Meetings. 

1. Origin of leaders' meetings 52 

2. Of whom composed 53 

3. Powers and duties 53 

4. To whom class-leaders are responsible 55 



CHAPTER III. 

MINISTERS. 

Section I. — Presiding Elders. 

1. Origin of the office 5G 

2. Nature of it 56 

3. Relation to individual societies 57 

4. President of the Quarterly Conference 57 

5. Permitting a preacher to leave his work 57 

6. Power to remove preachers 58 

7. Superintendents of domestic missions 58 

8. Testimonials of applicants for foreign missions 58 

9. Subjects of missionary correspondence 59 

10, Presiding in an Annual Conference 60 

Section II. — Preacher in Charge. 

1. The term denned 60 

2. Duties of the preacher in charge GO 

3. To whom responsible 65 

Section III. — Local Preachers. 

1. Mode of obtaining license 65 

2. By whom given 65 



12 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

3. Renewal of license refused without impeachment 66 

4. How long a license is valid , 66 

5. Ecclesiastical year denned 67 

6. Ordained local preachers , 67 

7. Recommendation to travel 68 

S. To whom amenable 68 

9. Prerequisites for ordination 69 

10. When local preachers from British Conference are eligible.. 69 

11. How long recommendations are valid 70 

12. Control of appointments 70 

13. Withdrawal of local preachers 70 



Section IV. — Extorters. 

1. Early recognised.............. 71 

2. Duties of exhorters.... 7l 

3. Under the direction of the preacher in charge 71 

4. Who are eligible to be exhorters 72 

5. By whom licensed 72 

6. To whom responsible 72 



CHAPTER IV. 
CERTIFICATES AND LOYE-FEASTS. 

Section I. — Note of Recommendation. 

1. Who are entitled to such note 73 

2. Withholding a certificate 73 

3. Who are not entitled to a certificate 73 

4. Removal without a certificate 74 

5. Erasure of name 74 

6. To whom a member is responsible after he has taken a 

letter 74 

7. How long a certificate remains valid 75 

8. All proper certificates to be received 75 

9. By whom certificates must be given 75 

10. Certificates to those who withdraw 76 

11. Certificate of official standing 76 



CONTENTS. 13 

Section II. — Love-Feasts. 

PAGB 

1. Origin of love-feasts 76 

2. Why discontinued 77 

3. Design of their institution in our Church 78 

4. Love-feast tickets 78 

5. Who may be admitted 79 

6. Love-feasts at the quarterly meeting 79 



CHAPTER V. 

CHURCH TRIALS.. 

Section L — Trial of Members, 

1. Christian discipline protected by civil authority 80 

2. Privileged communications 82 

3. Rights of members 83 

4. Mr. Wesley's mode of removing disorderly members 84 

Section II. — President of the Trial 

1. Preacher in charge..., 85 

2. President appointed by presiding elder 88 

3. Junior preacher incompetent 88 

Section III. — Complaint 

1. Committee of investigation 88 

2. Bill of charges 89 

3. Insufficient evidence 89 

4. Period within which responsible 90 

5. What is indictable 90 

6. Accessories to crime 90 

7. Mode of drawing bill of charges 91 

8. Object of formal charges 91 

9. What the charge must involve 92 

10. Correspondence between charges and specifications 92 

11. How expressed 92 

12. Different crimes to be separately given 93 

13. To what extent specific 93 



11 CONTENTS. 



PAGK 



14:. What errors no bar to the proceedings 93 

15. By whom charges are to be signed 94 

16. When to be signed by the pastor 94 

17. When several persons are involved 95 

IS. Notification of the accused 96 

19. Where the notice is to be left 96 



Section IV. — Select Committee. 

1. Who eligible 96 

2. By whom appointed........ 97 

3. Character of the committee 97 

4. Duty of the committee , 99 

5. Definition of "society" 100 

6. Verdict to be based on testimony......... 100 

7. Making up judgment 100 

8. Relation of the presiding officer to the committee 102 

9. Ambiguous or equivocal terms 103 

10. Females entitled to vote 103 



Section V.—The Trial 

1. Duty of the presiding officer... 104 

2. Mode of conducting a trial 105 

3. Confession of guilt.......................... 105 

4. Refuging to answer 105 

5. Second indictment *.. 106 

6. Plea in abatement 106 

7. New issues 107 

8. Ruling out specifications.. 107 

9. Adjournment by presiding officer. 107 

10. Immaterial facts 108 

11. Evading a trial 108 

12. Limited to the charge 109 

13. Refusing to entertain bill of charges 109 

14. Dismissing the case 109 

15. Counsel to be restricted to the members of the Church 110 

16. Preachers as counsel 110 

17. Where the trial should be held 110 

18. Testimony not to be copied without consent 110 



CONTENTS. 15 

Section VI. — General Laws of Evidence. 

PAGB 

1. Should be understood 110 

2. First rule, evidence correspond to the allegation Ill 

3. Second rule, sufficient if the substance be proved Ill 

4. Third rule, obligation of proving lies upon the complainant 112 

5. Fourth rule, the best evidence must be produced 113 

6. Hearsay evidence .' 114 

7. When it is to be admitted 114 

Section VII. — Witnesses. 

1. Number of witnesses . 115 

2. Party in the suit 115 

3. Husband and wife , 116 

4. Incompetent witnesses 116 

5. Atheists 117 

6. •' Witnesses from without 51 , 117 

7. Admissibility a question of law 117 

8. The pastor as a witness..., 117 

Section VIII. — Examination of Witnesses. 

1. By whom first examined 118 

2. Examined out of each other's hearing.... 118 

8. Mode of giving testimony 118 

4. Leading questions . 119 

5. Writing their testimony 119 

6. Impression and belief. , ....... 119 

7. Correction of testimony ,. 120 

8. YvTien exceptions should be taken 120 

9. Refusing to answer 120 

10. Questions by presiding officer 121 

11. Putting under oath ., 121 

12. Evidence of good character 121 

13. Impeachment of witnesses.................,.,.....,,,....,..,.., 122 

Section IX. — Depositions. 

1. When to be taken 122 

2. Notification 122 

3. Form of notice , ,.„ 123 



16 



U o is X E JS r T B. 



PAGH 

4. Form of deposition 123 

5. Should be sealed up 125 

6. Ex parte deposition 125 

7. Commission at Conference 125 

8. Part of a deposition 126 

Section X. — Appeal 

1. Privilege of a2)peai...c « 126 

2. Whether it can be entertained 126 

3. Bar to appeal . . 127 

4. When to be taken.... 127 

5. Withdrawal from the Church a bar to appeal.. 123 

6. Impeachment of motives 128 

7. Imperfect records 128 

8. Records not signed . 129 

9. Mode of conducting appeals v ..... 129 

10. Power of appellate courts 130 

11. New evidence 130 

12. Appeal of local preacher places the ease beyond the power 

of the Quarterly Conference 131 

13. Effect of reversing a decision 131 

14. Restoration of official relation 131 

15. When a decision is final 132 

16. Relation of a person who has taken an appeal 132 

17. Appeals to be entered on the records 132 

18. Prosecuting appeals 133 

19. Power of presiding officer in case of appeals 133 

Section XI.— New Trial. 

1. By what authority granted 133 

2. Right of the pastor 131 

3. Steps to be taken 134 

4. When to be allowed 135 

Section XII. — Trial of Local Preachers. 

1. Ministerial responsibility 135 

2. When a committee to be called 136 

3. Number of the committee 137 



CONTENTS. 17 



PAGB 



4. Who may constitute the committee 137 

5. Mode of conducting the investigation 138 

6. By whom suspended 138 

7. Acquittal no bar to subsequent trial 138 

8. Mode of conducting the trial 138 

9. What testimony to be admitted , 139 

10. Trial in the absence of the accused 139 

11. Punishment awarded by Quarterly Conference 139 

12. Limit of Quarterly Conference action 140 

13. When the decision to be given , MO 

14 Charges not to be altered 140 

15. Not self-accuser 141 

16. Case before the civil tribunal 141 

17. Counsel not disqualified as members.... 142 

18. Rule under which the case is brought 142 

Section XIII. — Trial of Travelling Preachers. 

1. Nature of investigating committees 143 

2. Of what offences take cognizance 143 

3. Reference at the Annual Conference 144 

4. Reference to the presiding elder for examination 145 

5. Acquittal by the Committee no bar to subsequent trial 145 

6. By whom suspended 146 

7. Committee when Conferences are divided 146 

8. Powers of presiding officer in the examination of a presiding 

elder 146 

9. Place of holding the investigation 147 

10. For what offences arrested 147 

11. Form of trial 147 

12. Trial in the absence of the accused 148 

13. A suspended preacher cannot afterward be expelled for the 

same offence 148 

14. Period of suspension 14S 

15. Location without consent 149 

16. Duty of the secretary 150 

Section XIV. — Church Offences. 

1. Specific rule 150 

2. The different rules 150 

2 



18 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

3. When Church labour is required 151 

4. Disseminating erroneous doctrines 151 

5. Mode of treating such as disseminate errors 152 

6. Omission of duty 153 

7. Slander 154 

8. When the truthfulness of the statement may be proved 154 

9. By whom the charge of slander must be made 154 

Section XY. — Penalty. 

1. Design of penalty 155 

2. Different awards 155 

3. Forgiveness 155 

4. Censure and suspension 157 

5. Period of suspension 158 

6. Penalty based upon charges 153 

7. Repelling from love-feasts 158 

8. Penalty for maladministration 159 

9. Readmission of expelled members 159 

10. Restoration by the Annual Conference 160 

11. No discretionary power given to the president after the 

verdict is rendered 160 

12. Public confession 160 

13. "Reading out" of society 161 

14. Refusing to comply with the requisition of the Church 162 

Section 'KYI.— Arbitration. 

1. History of the rule 162 

2. Discretionary power of the pastor 163 

3. Definition of terms 163 

4. Arbiters members of the Church 164 

5. President of the arbitration 164 

6. Mode of conducting an arbitration 164 

7. Parties residing on different circuits 165 

8. When required to arbitrate 165 

9. Dispute with a corporation 165 

10. Power of presiding elder respecting arbitration 165 

11. Refusing to arbitrate 166 

12. Refusing to abide judgment 166 

13. Lawsuits 166 

14. Accounts of those "who fail in business" 166 



CONTENTS. 19 

CHAPTER VI. 
CHURCH PROPERTY. 



Section I. — Building Churches and Parsonages. 



PA^H 



1. Pecuniary liabilities 1G8 

2. Personal liability of the building committee 169 

3. Liability when they exceed the estimated expense 370 

Section II. — Trustees. 

1. By whom Church property is held 170 

2. Mode of creating trustees 172 

3. Who are eligible as trustees 173 

4. Limitations of power 173 

5. Entitled to possession 175 

6. For what purposes only the church can be used 175 

7. Trustees of an unincorporated society 176 

8. Term of office 176 

9. Powers of trustees and stewards , 176 

10. To whom responsible 177 

11. Powers restricted to the objects of their creation 178 

Section III. — Pews. 

1. Legal rights of pew owners 178 

2. Right of occupancy on all public occasions 179 

3. Restriction of rights 180 

4. "When a right expires 181 

5. Contract for a pew must be written 181 

6. Pews as real or personal estate 182 

7. Exempt from taxation 182 

8. Selling pews at auction 182 

9. Form of deed of a pew 183 

Section IV. — Subscription Papers. 

1. To whom made payable 184 

2. When payment must be demanded 184 

3. Conditional subscriptions 185 



20 CONTENTS. 



4. Fictitious subscriptions 185 

5. Deductions by the collector . 186 

6. When not collectable 186 



CHAPTER VII. 
MINISTERIAL SUPPORT, 

Section I. — Allowance* 

1. Salary at different periods .......... 187 

2. Definition of allowance. >..**,. ....... > 188 

3. Fuel and table expenses ,... 188 

4. Fifth Collection 189 

5. Allowance of superannuated preachers 190 

6. Travelling expenses of preachers 190 

7. Travelling expenses of editors 190 

8. Estimating committee ,. 191 

9. Appropriations to those in debt to the Book Concern 192 

10. Supply of the pulpit during the session of the Annual Con- 

ference 193 

11. Support of presiding elders.... 193 

12. Relative claims of presiding elders and stationed preachers 194 

13. District stewards 194 

14. Absent on official business 195 

15. Serving a corporation or benevolent institution 195 

16. Suspension cuts off claim 195 

17. Widow's claim 195 

18. Adopted children 196 

19. Table expenses 196 

Section II. — Stewards. 

1. Origin of stewards 196 

2. Their duties 197 

3. By whom appointed 200 

4. To whom responsible 201 

5. Recording stewards 201 

6. Resignation of office 201 

7. Stewards displaced by uniting two circuits •. 202 



CONTENTS. 21 

CHAPTER VIII. 
RULES OP ORDER, 



PAGE 



1. Parliamentary rules 203 

2. Temporary organization , , 203 

8. Permanent organization 205 

4. Presiding officer 205 

5. Secretary 207 

6. Members , 209 

7. Motions 210 

8. Indefinite postponement 211 

9. Laying on the table . 211 

10. Referring to a committee , 212 

11. Division of a question.,,,...,..,, , , , 212 

12. Filling blanks , 213 

13. Amendments 213 

14. Privileged questions,.., ,,., ,...,, 216 

15. Adjournment , ,..., , 216 

16. Orders of the day 217 

17. Incidental questions , 218 

18. Questions of order..., , , 219 

19. Previous question , , , 219 

20. Order of proceeding.,,, ,, ,,., 221 

21. Order in debate....." 222 

22. Taking the question , 224 

23. Reconsideration 225 

24. Committees , , 226 

25. Reports of committees , 227 

26. Minority report 228 

27. Committee of the whole 228 

28. Rules of the General Conference from 1836-^52 230 

CHAPTER IX. 

FORMULAS. 
Section I.— -Formulas for Preachers in Charge. 

1. Note of recommendation to a member 234 

2. Exporter's license 235 

3. Recommendation of a local preacher 235 



22 CONTENTS. 

PAGK 

4. Class-book 236 

5. Quarterly Sunday-school report 236 

6. Church register for a successor 237 

7. Register of the children..,.. 237 

8. Statistical report 237 

9. Annual Sunday-school report... 238 

10. Collections for benevolent objects, 239 

11. Steward's certificate ..,,, 239 

12. Benevolent institutions.,, 240 

13. Wills 240 



Section II,—- Formulas for Presiding Elders. 

1. License of a local preacher. ,, 242 

2. Recommendation to the travelling connexion 242 

3. Recommendation for deacon or elder's orders 243 

4. Recommendation for recognition of orders 244 

5. Recommendation for restoration of credentials 244 

6. Superannuated preacher's certificate. 245 



CHAPTER X. 

COURSE OP STUDY. 

Section I. — For Probationers and Travelling Deacons. 

First year 246 

Second year 247 

Third year 248 

Fourth year 249 

Section II. — For Local Preachers who are Candidates for Dea- 
con and Elder's Orders 

Candidates for deacon's orders 251 

Candidates for eider's orders 253 



A GUIDE-BOOK 

IN THE 

ADMINISTRATION OF THE DISCIPLINE. 



CHAPTER I. 
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

Section I. — Members. 

1. The regularly-constituted pastor is the 
proper authority to admit suitable persons to 
the communion of the Church. The preacher 
in charge, acting at first under the authority of 
Mr. Wesley, received members into the society, 
and severed their relations from the Church, 
according to his own convictions of duty. In 
1784 the assistant was restricted from giving 
tickets to any, until they had been recommended 
by a leader with whom they had met, at least 
two months, on trial. In 1789 the term of pro- 
bation was extended to six months. In 1S36 the 
phrase, " give tickets to none," was changed to 
" let none be received into the Church." Hence, 



24 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. [Chap. I, 

since the organization of our Church, none could 
be received into full communion who had not 
previously been recommended by a leader ; and, 
since 1840, it has been required that the appli- 
cant pass a satisfactory examination before the 
Church, respecting the correctness of his doc- 
trine and his willingness to observe the rules of 
the Church, 

2. Membership in a Christian Church should 
never depend upon the result of a vote ; and yet, 
if any member of the Church is not satisfied 
with the evidence presented, of the moral and 
Christian character of the candidate, he should 
have an opportunity to make his objections to 
the reception of the person. In no case, how- 
ever, should the reception of a person be a mat- 
ter of public debate before the Church, When 
it is known that objections exist, the reception 
of the person should be postponed, and private 
measures adopted which will secure the purity 
and peace of the Church. 

3. It is unfavourable to good government in 
the Church for a preacher, under any circum- 
stances, to receive into membership, in his 
charge, a person living in the bounds of another 



Sec. I.] MEMBERS, 25 

pastoral charge; yet established usage justifies 
it under some circumstances, especially in cities, 
where there are separate charges, and where it 
is difficult to define them geographically. But, 
in these circumstances, comity and Christian 
courtesy should be strictly maintained, It is 
possible that there may be cases of mere preju- 
dice, without any tangible cause, that might 
render one society unwilling to admit a person 
to membership which would not be a sufficient 
reason for preventing him from joining another 
society ; but when responsible members of the 
society where the person lives present specific 
objections to the reception of the person in an- 
other society, especially if the objection grows 
out of former Church relations, or the disciplin- 
ary action of the Church, the person should not 
be received until satisfaction is made to the ag- 
grieved society. (Bishop Janes.) 

4. " If a member has been expelled according 
to due disciplinary forms, and, without changing 
his residence, should go to another Methodist so- 
ciety and join on trial, it would be maladminis- 
tration for the preacher, at the expiration of six 
months, to receive such a person into the Church, 
provided that no satisfaction had been given to 



26 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. [Chap. I, 

the society which arraigned him ; for the Disci- 
pline expressly declares : ' After such forms of 
trial and expulsion, guch persons shall have no 
privileges of society, or of sacraments, in our 
Church, without contrition, confession, and satis- 
factory reformation, 5 "—Bj?s, Waugh and Janes. 

5. A member who hag withdrawn, or been 
expelled from our Church, and who never after- 
ward connected himself with another evangelical 
Church, cannot again be received unless he joins 
on trial, as in the first instance, 

6. " Persons in good standing in other ortho- 
dox Churches, who desire to unite with us, may, 
by giving satisfactory answers to the usual in- 
quiries^ be received at once into full fellowship. 5 ' 
The society rnugt decide what is evidence of 
"good standing in other orthodox Churches." 
Letters of dismission and recommendation are 
not necessarily required, as some denominations 
never grant such, unless they are to be presented 
to sister Churches of their own denomination. 
Such persons, however, should certify the 
Churches of which they have been members of 
their intention to join another Church, and of 
their consequent withdrawal. 



Sec. I.] MEMBERS. 27 

7. By " orthodox "or evangelical Churches are 
meant those whose doctrinal creed embraces, 
especially, the divinity and atonement of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the depravity of the human 
heart, justification by faith alone and regenera- 
tion by the Holy Ghost, the witness of the Spirit, 
and future rewards and punishments, and whose 
communicants generally are reputed to be de- 
vout and Christian men. 

8. The " usual inquiries " proposed to all can- 
didates for full membership may embrace the 
following : " Have you read our Articles of Re- 
ligion, and do you cordially subscribe to them? 
Especially do you believe in the divinity of our 
Lord Jesus Christ,— that he has made an atone- 
ment for all mankind, and that men are justified 
by faith alone in him ? and that it is the privilege 
and duty of all Christians to be made holy in 
this life, and adorn the doctrine of God our Sav- 
iour in all things ? Do you now solemnly pur- 
pose to consecrate yourself to the service of Al- 
mighty God, and obediently to keep his holy will 
and commandments, and walk in the same all the 
days of your life? Have you read the rules and 
Discipline of our Church, and will you endeav- 
our to observe and keep them ? Do you cherish 



28 CnURCH MEMBERSHIP. [Chap. I, 

kind and fraternal feelings toward the members 
of this Church, and do you feel that it would be 
a special blessing to you to be associated with 
them in Christian fellowship and sacred cove- 
nant? "Will you receive kindly the counsels, 
warnings, and reproofs of your brethren, and 
watch mutually over them for their Christian 
improvement? Will you contribute of your 
earthly substance, according to your ability, to 
the support of the gospel and the various insti- 
tutions of the Church? 

Section II. — Probationers. 

1. If the visible Church of Christ is a con- 
gregation of faithful men, in which the pure 
word of God is preached and the sacraments 
duly administered, as our Articles of Religion 
teach, it is a matter of vital importance to test, 
with deep scrutiny, the moral and Christian 
character of those who propose to enter her 
holy communion. N"o proselyte was admitted 
to Jewish fellowship without being well proved 
and instructed. The same care was observed by 
the early Christian Church. "None in those 
days," says Lord King, "were hastily advanced 
to the higher forms of Christianity, but, accord- 
ing to their knowledge and merit, gradually 



Sec. II.] PROBATIONERS. 29 

arrived thereto." Bishop Stillingfleet remarks 
that one principal cause " of the great flourishing 
of religion in the primitive times was the strict- 
ness used by them in their admission of members" 
into Church fellowship. Origen, in his treatise 
against Celsus, remarks that " they did inquire 
into the lives and carriages to discern their se- 
riousness in the profession of Christianity during 
their being catechumens ;" and, if they evinced 
true repentance and reformation of life, they were 
then admitted to a participation of the mysteries. 

2. It is the prerogative of the preacher in 
charge alone to receive persons on trial. No 
one whose name is taken by a class-leader can 
be considered as a member on trial until the 
preacher recognises the person as such. 

3. The general qualifications of those who join 
on trial are, " a desire to flee from the wrath to 
come, and to be saved from their sins." This 
desire, however, must be evinced "by doing no 
harm, by avoiding evil of every kind," "by doing 
good," "by instructing, reproving, or exhorting 
all we have any intercourse with," " by running 
with patience the race which is set before them, 
denying themselves, and taking up their cross 



30 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. [Chap. I, 

daily, submitting to bear the reproach of Christ, 
to be as the filth and offscouring of the world, 
and looking that men should say all manner of 
evil of them falsely for the Lord's sake," and 
" by attending upon all the ordinances of God." 
As the minister may not know whether the 
candidate makes a truthful declaration of his 
moral state, he is authorized " to admit none on 
trial except they are well recommended by one 
you know, or until they have met twice or thrice 
in class." As they are not supposed, at the time 
of joining on trial, to be acquainted with our 
doctrines, usages, and discipline, they are not 
required, at that time, to subscribe to our arti- 
cles of religion and general economy; but if 
they propose to join in full connexion, "they 
must give satisfactory assurances both of the 
correctness of their faith and their willingness 
to observe and keep the rules of the Church." 
A mere probationer enters into no covenant 
with the Church. Every step he takes is pre- 
liminary to this, and either party may, at any 
time, quietly dissolve the relation between them 
without rupture or specific Church labour. 

4. The Discipline does not specify the time 
when the probation shall terminate, but it has 



Sec. II.] PROBATIONERS. 31 

fixed its minimum period. "Let none be re- 
ceived into the Church until they are recom- 
mended by a leader with whom they have met 
at least six months" If either party desires a 
longer probation, a judicious administrator w r ould 
readily allow it. A Church relation is so sacred 
and intimate that it should not be formed if 
there are secret misgivings on either party. 
The hand of fellowship, when given, should be 
hearty, sincere, and deeply affectionate. But, 
when both parties are satisfied, and the usual 
period of probation has expired, the candidate 
should be advised to consummate his full con- 
nexion w T ith the Church, as a duty which he 
owes to the great Head of the Church and to 
the world. 

5. A member on trial is entitled to the special 
watch-care of the Church ; he has a right to at- 
tend its general religious meetings, its class- 
meetings, and love-feasts. He is not entitled to 
a love-feast ticket ■, for such are given only to 
members in full communion ; but he is entitled 
to a note of admission. 

A probationer is not entitled to hold any offi- 
cial relation as trustee, steward, class-leader, ex- 
horter, or local preacher. Where a new society 



39 CHURCH MEMBSB6HIP. .Chap. 1, 

has just been organized, necessity compels the 
preacher to appoint some probationer to take 
charge of the class, but this appointment does 
not give the person a connexion with the quar- 
terly conference. Xone can form a part of this 
important judicatory of our Church who has 
never entered into covenant with us, or signified 
his " willingness to observe and keep the rules of . 
our Church.'' 

Nor is it the order of the Church for proba- 
tioners, who have never been baptized, to par- 
take of the holy sacrament. The initiatory rite 
should first be administered before the person is 
admitted to all the distinguishing rites of the 
new covenant. 

6. A person on trial cannot be arraigned be- 
fore the society, or a select number of them, on 
definite charges and specifications. " If he walk 
disorderly, he is passed out by the door at which 
he came in. The pastor, upon the evidence and 
recommendation required in the Discipline, en- 
tered his name as a candidate, or probationer, 
for membership, and placed him in a class for 
religious training and improvement ; now, if his 
conduct be contrary to the gospel, or, in the ' 
language of our rule, if he ' walk disorderly 



Sec. II.] PROBATIONERS. 33 

and will not be reproved,' it is the duty of 
the pastor to discontinue him, to erase his 
name from the class-book and probationers' 
list. This is not to be done rashly, or on sus- 
picion, or slight evidence of misconduct. It 
is made the duty of his leader to report 
weekly to his pastor 'any that walk disorder- 
ly and will not be reproved.' This implies 
that the leader, on discovering an impropriety 
in his conduct, first conversed privately with 
him, and, on finding that he had done wrong, 
attempted to administer suitable reproof that 
Re might be recovered. Had he received re- 
proof, this had been the end of the matter; 
but he ' would not be reproved,' — would not 
submit to reproof, — and the leader therefore 
reports the case to the pastor. But it is evi- 
dently the design that after this first failure 
on the part of the leader, further efforts should 
be made by the pastor; for the rule, after pro- 
viding that such conduct shall be made known 
to the pastor, adds: 'We will admonish him 
of the error of his ways. We will bear with 
him for a season. But, then, if he repent not, 
he hath no more place among us.' The pastor, 
on consultation with the leader and others when 
convenient in country societies, and with the 



31 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. [Chap. I, 

leaders' meeting, where there is one, determines 
on the proper course, and carries the determina- 
tion into effect. Here is a just correspondence 
between rights and duties." — Plat Meth., p. 87. 

Section m. — Withdrawal. 

1. Church relation, from the nature of the 
case, must depend upon the mutual pleasure of 
the parties entering into this relation. No 
Church covenant ought to be construed into a 
solemn pledge and obligation to remain during 
life with that particular branch of the Church 
of Christ with which the person first unites. It 
may, indeed, be deemed a solemn pledge to 
remain in fellowship with some branch of the 
visible Church. Dissatisfaction w T ith the doc- 
trines or polity of a Church, after long and 
prayerful examination, may be a sufficient reason 
why a new Church relationship should be formed. 

2. As Church relationship is formed to pro- 
mote the mutual holiness of its members, and 
to extend more successfully Christianity through 
the world, the Church can never be a party 
to the removal of a member so long as he 
discharges faithfully his covenant vows. As 
it was voluntary for the person to enter this 



Sec. III.] WITHDRAWAL. 35 

relation, so it is optional with him to withdraw 
from this connexion whenever he is disposed, 
provided he has faithfully discharged his obliga- 
tions. But if he withdraws, the act is his own, 
and the responsibility must rest upon him. The 
Church may labour to show him the folly and 
indiscretion of the act, but, if he persists in his 
determination, the Church must give her con- 
sent ; but the acquiescence of the Church is not 
to be deemed as an assumption of a part of the 
responsibility of the act. 

3. When a Church relation is formed, the 
member, virtually, promises to observe the rules 
and usages of the society, and if he violates 
them, to submit to the discipline of the Church. 
And hence none can claim a withdrawal from 
the Church against whom charges have been 
preferred, or until the Church has had an op- 
portunity to recognise the withdrawal. A sol- 
emn covenant cannot be dissolved until the 
parties are duly notified. The bishops have 
unanimously declared that "the admission of 
the right to withdraw at option, without the con- 
sent of the Church, especially when under impu- 
tation of gross and scandalous offences, would 
operate most injuriously to the maintenance 



36 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. [Chap. I, 

of wholesome discipline and sound morals. In 
accordance with this view, we deem it to be 
our duty to say that it is contrary to the econ- 
omy and usage of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church to allow ministers or members, when 
guilty of gross violations of the Discipline, to 
evade its salutary authority and force by de- 
claring themselves withdrawn from the jurisdic- 
tion of the Church," 

i. But, though no accused member can claim 
the right to v:'dhdro.v\ yet the body to which he 
is responsible may "suffer* 3 an accused member 
<; to withdraw from the Church, should he re- 
quest it, before the trial takes place.*' "For 
scandalous crimes," says Bishop Hedding, "ex- 
pulsion should undoubtedly take place," and if 
the authorities of the Church should proceed 
and expel a member who had violated his 
Church covenant, and declared himself beyond 
the pale of the Church, they would be pro- 
tected by the civil law, provided their action 
was in accordance with the rules of the Church. 
The Church must decide when her purity and 
influence demand the expulsion of disorderly 
members from her communion. (See Rec. Gen. 
Conf., 1848, p. 129.) 



Sec. IIL] WITHDKA W A L. 37 

5. When several members of our Church 
withdraw in a body from our public and social 
meetings, and the oversight of the pastor, and 
appoint separate, meetings for themselves, they 
are not to be considered as withdrawn from the 
Church, but they may be summoned, each sep- 
arately, to answer for neglect of duty and dis- 
obedience to the order of the Church. 

6. If a member makes an application to with- 
draw, and^ after a few days, expresses a desire 
to remain in the Church, if the withdrawal has 
not been announced, and no entry has been 
made on the Church books, it is optional with 
the Church either to declare him withdrawn, or 
to allow him to recall his request. But if the 
withdrawal has been consummated by the as- 
sent of the Church, and the registry of the fact, 
it cannot be annulled by Church action. (Bp. 
Janes.) 

7. A member who refuses to attend to his 
duties, to meet in class, &c, does not by that 
act withdraw from the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. But such member is responsible to 
the Church for such violation of his Church 
covenant 



38 THE CONFERENCES. [Chap. II, 



CHAPTEE II. 

THE CONFERENCES. 

Section I. — Annual Conferences. 

1. The first annual conference in England 
was held at the Foundry in London, June, 1744, 
at which the following persons were present : — 
John "Wesley, Charles "Wesley, John Hodges, 
Rector of Wenvo, Henry Piers, \ 7 icar of Bex- 
ley, Samuel Taylor, Vicar of Quinton, and John 
Meriton. The first annual conference in Amer- 
ica was held in Philadelphia, June, 1773, at 
which the Rev. Thomas Rankin presided. 

2. Districts have existed not in name but in 
fact, since the organization of our Church. Mr. 
Wesley desired that " no more elders should be 
ordained, in the first instance, than were abso- 
lutely necessary, and that the work on the con- 
tinent should be divided between them in respect 
to the duties of their office." The General Con- 
ference, at first, elected only twelve elders to 
administer the ordinances of the Church; but 



Sec. I.J ANNUAL CONFERENCES. 39 

Bishop Asbmy and the district conferences 
afterward enlarged the number, and gave them 
the name by which they were afterward desig- 
nated. This proceeding subsequently received 
the approbation of Mr. Wesley and the General 
Conference of 1792. 

3. The term circuit was first introduced into 
the Minutes of the conference in the year 1746. 
At that time a circuit embraced some fifteen or 
twenty societies which lay around some princi- 
pal society. At each conference two, three, or 
four preachers were appointed to each circuit, 
and the one having charge was denominated an 
assistant, because he assisted Mr. Wesley in su- 
perintending the societies, and the other preach- 
ers were called helpers. In England the name 
is now generally retained, and applied to the 
stations of the preachers whose spheres of minis- 
terial labour do not extend far beyond the limits 
of the town in which they reside, as well as to 
those which spread over a much larger space. 
In this country, in colloquial language, the term 
station is applied to a charge embracing only a 
single worshipping congregation, and circuit to 
a more extended field; but, in the Discipline, 
these terms are frequently used interchangeably. 



40 THE CONFERENCES. LChap. II, 

When a society becomes, in common parlance, 
a station, it loses no title to funded property 
which it held while it was called a circuit, nor 
do circuit preachers form a different class of 
beneficiaries from those who are termed sta- 
tioned preachers. 

4. A bishop sustains the relation of moderator 
to the General Conference. He represents no 
section or interest of the Church ; he can claim 
no right to introduce motions, to make speeches, 
or to cast votes on any question. As president, 
he can neither form rules nor decide law ques- 
tions in the General Conference ; and, on mere 
questions of order, there is an appeal from his 
decision to the deliberative body. (Bishops' Ad- 
dress to Gen. Conf., 1840; Bishop Hedding on 
Discipline, p. 10.) 

No one of the bishops is specially designated 
as the president of the General Conference. 
This is a matter of mutual agreement among 
the bishops. He who occupies the chair for 
the time being, is the legal president of the 
conference. 

By a conventional arrangement among the 
bishops, there is properly but one official presi- 
dent of an annual conference, though other 



Sec. I.] ANNUAL CONFERENCES. 41 

bishops may preside and assist in all the duties 
of the chair. No bishop has a right to make a 
motion, to vote, or to make speeches on contro- 
verted questions in an annual conference. 

5. The peculiar prerogatives of the president 
of an annual conference are the following : — 

a. He may adjourn the conference over which 
he presides when, in his judgment, all the busi- 
ness prescribed by the Discipline shall have 
been transacted, provided that the conference 
shall be allowed to sit, at least, a week, and, 
also provided, that if an exception shall be 
taken, by the conference, to his so adjourning 
it, the exception shall be entered upon the 
Journals of the Conference. (Eec. Gen. Conf., 
1840, p. 121.) 

h. The bishop must decide all questions of 
law and order raised in the ordinary business 
of the conference. On a question of law, an 
appeal may be taken, either by the conference 
as a body, or by any member of it, to the next 
ensuing General Conference. The decision of a 
president, however, must be made the basis of 
action, for the time being, by the conference. 
On a question of order, an appeal may be taken 
at the time to the annual conference. 



42 THE CONFERENCES. [Chap. II, 

c. The president of an annual or a quarterly 
conference has the right to decline putting the 
question on a motion, resolution, or report, 
when, in his judgment, such motion, resolution, 
or report does not relate to the proper business 
of a conference. Provided, that in all such 
cases, the president, on being required to do so, 
shall have inserted in the Journals of the Con- 
ference his refusal to put the question on such 
motion, resolution, or report, with his reasons 
for so refusing; and, also provided, that when 
an annual conference shall differ from the 
president on a question of law, they shall 
have a right to record their dissent on the 
Journals, provided there shall be no discus- 
sion on the subject. (Rec. Gen. Oonf., 1840, 
p. 121. 

6. No preacher having the charge of a circuit 
is authorized to divide, or in any way to lessen 
the circuit. (Gen. Conf., 1816.) 

7. The conference year commences when the 
appointments are announced in the annual con- 
ference, and continues until the announcing of 
the appointments at the next ensuing confer- 
ence. (Bishop Waugh.) 



Sec. I.] ANNUAL CONFEEENCES. 43 

8. All the preachers, whether in full connex- 
ion or on probation, are required to be present 
at the annual conference and undergo the re- 
quired examinations. If a local deacon or elder, 
or if a minister from another evangelical de- 
nomination, join the travelling connexion, he 
is required to pass the four years' course of 
study. 

9. A preacher who refuses to go to his work, 
is responsible to the annual conference for such 
refusal, and may be deposed from the ministry 
if they shall judge proper. (Bishop Janes.) 

10. When a member of an annual conference, 
in good standing, demands a location, the con- 
ference is obliged to grant it to him. But if 
the member is indebted to the Book Concern, 
the conference may require him to secure the 
debt before they grant his request. (Bee. Gen. 
Conf., 1840, p. 107.) 

11. The location of a travelling preacher 
is to be reckoned from the final adjournment 
of the conference session, and not from the 
particular time that the vote of location is 
taken. 



41 T II E CONFERENCES. Xhap. II, 

12. A located preacher is entitled to a certifi- 
cate of location under the hand of the presi- 
dent of the conference. (Eec. Gen. Conf., 1848, 
p. 98. 

13. A preacher who has been located, either 
with or without his consent, may. at any ses- 
sion, be readmitted to his former standing, at 
the option of a majority of the conference. 

14. But if a preacher has withdrawn from 
an annual conference, he cannot again be read- 
mitted without the usual probation, though he 
has returned to the Church and his credentials 
have been restored to him. 

15. Properly accredited members from the 
British. Irish, or Canada Conferences may be 
at once received into full connexion in the trav- 
elling ministry, provided they give satisfaction 
to an annual conference of their willingness to 
conform to our Church government and usages. 
But ministers from other Christian Churches 
can only be received at first on trial. 

16. Ministers from other evangelical Churches 
must be recommended by some quarterly con- 






Sec. I.j ANNUAL CONFERENCES. 45 

ference, according to our usages, before they can 
be received on trial in the travelling connexion. 

17. A superannuated preacher possesses all 
the rights, powers, and prerogatives of an effect- 
ive preacher in an annual conference. He may 
serve on any committee, vote on any question, 
and represent an annual conference, as a dele- 
gate, in the General Conference. 

18. When a superannuated preacher resides 
within the bounds of the conference to which 
he belongs, he is a member of the quarterly 
conference where he lives ; but if he resides 
beyond the limits of his own conference, he is 
not a member of any quarterly conference. (Bp. 
Hedding ; Bee. Gen. Oonf., 1848, p. 128.) 

19. A superannuated preacher is not a mem- 
ber of the society w T here he resides ; he cannot 
hold any office as steward or class-leader in the 
society, or have any voice in its proceedings, 
but he may claim the right to attend its class- 
meetings. (Ibid.) 

20. A preacher on trial cannot sustain either 
a supernumerary- or a superannuated relation. 



46 THE CONFERENCES. LChap. II, 

21. A bishop is not authorized to continue an 
effective preacher in a circuit or station where 
he has held a pastoral relation over a majority 
of the charge for two consecutive years, even 
though the station may be divided into two or 
more circuits or stations. (Gen. Conf., 1S36.) 

22. Every preacher belonging to the travel- 
ling connexion, unless he sustains a superannu- 
ated relation, or is under arrest of character, 
must receive an appointment to some station 
recognised by our economy. Previously to 
1836. preachers were frequently returned on 
the Minutes as being left without an appoint- 
ment at their own request, but the General 
Conference has forbidden the practice. 

23. Preachers on trial may be appointed as 
teachers to schools and colleges. But none 
can be received into full connexion unless they 
have been employed two successive years in 
the regular itinerant work on circuits or in 
stations. 

24 When an annual conference requests a 
superintendent to appoint a preacher to a liter- 
ary institution, it does not render it obligatory 



Sec II.] QUARTERLY CONFERENCES. 47 

upon the bishop to comply with the request. 
(Kec. Gen. Conf., 1840, p. 165.) 

Section II. — Quarterly Conferences. 

1. It is uncertain at what time quarterly con- 
ferences were introduced into our economy, but 
it is known that they were held at a very early 
period. The Large Minutes were first published 
in 1763, in which it is declared to be one of the 
numerous duties of the assistant to hold quar- 
terly meetings, and diligently inquire therein 
into the spiritual and temporal state of each 
society. At a very early date, Mr. Wesley 
adopted the plan of quarterly visitations of the 
classes, at which he inquired into the religious 
state of each individual, and gave suitable pas- 
toral advice, and renewed the certificate of 
membership by giving each a society ticket. 
The visitations were so arranged as to terminate 
with the four quarter-days in the national calen- 
dar ; and the quarterly meetings of the circuits 
were appointed to be held on those days, or as 
near as practicable. 

2. The powers of the quarterly conference 
are various. It is a court holding original juris- 
diction over accused local elders, deacons, and 



48 THE CONFERENCES. [Chap. II, 

preachers, and of preachers on trial in the trav- 
elling connexion, and a court of appeals to the 
laity. It is a council to constitute and appoint 
local preachers, to examine their moral and 
Christian characters, and to recommend suita- 
ble persons for ministerial orders, according to 
the provisions of the Church. It holds, also, a 
supervisory relation to the various financial and 
benevolent enterprises of the Church. It is 
authorized "to hear complaints" against the 
official acts and delinquencies of local preachers, 
stewards, and exhorters, and against the awards 
of arbiters of disputed accounts. 

3. The quarterly conference is composed of 
all the travelling and local preachers, exhorters, 
stewards, and class-leaders of the circuit or 
station, and of such members of the annual 
conference as the bishop may designate, who, 
as agents, editors, &c, sustain no pastoral rela- 
tion to any society, and of such superannuated 
preachers as reside on the circuit, provided they 
live within the bounds of their own conference. 
The male superintendents of Sunday schools, 
being members of our Church, and the mis- 
sionary committee, have a right to a seat in the 
conference during its action on these respective 



Sec.IL] QUARTERLY CONFERENCES. 49 

subjects. All members of a quarterly confer- 
ence, not under charges, have equal rights to 
speak and vote in a quarterly conference, except 
on questions affecting their own standing. 

4. The presiding elder, when present, is the 
president of the quarterly conference; but, in 
his absence, the preacher in charge. 

5. "When two circuits are united for quarterly 
meetings, the preacher in charge within whose 
bounds the quarterly meeting is held, is the 
president of the quarterly conference in the 
absence of the presiding elder. (Bishop Hed- 
ding, MS.) 

6. When two circuits are united for quarterly 
meetings, the secretary of the quarterly confer- 
ence should record the entire doings of the 
conference, and the recording steward of each 
circuit take a copy of such records only as 
relate to their respective circuits. 

7. The supervision of quarterly conferences 
over Sunday schools and Sunday-school socie- 
ties, authorizes their direct control and man- 
agement over Sunday schools where no Sun- 

4 



50 THE CONFERENCES. [Chap. II, 

day-school society exists, and empowers tliem 
to sanction and modify the organizations of 
Sundaj^-school societies where they exist, and to 
correct anything they may judge contrary to 
the doctrine, discipline, or usage of the Church 
in the practice of such organized societies ; but 
quarterly conferences cannot directly interfere 
in the management of the schools where such 
Sunday-school societies do exist. (Bishops.) 

8. A quarterly conference has no authority 
to amend or reject a Sabbath-school report pre- 
sented by the preacher in charge, according to 
the provisions of discipline, but the report 
should be entered upon the journals of the 
conference without the question being put on 
its adoption. 

9. The presiding elder must appoint the time 
of holding a quarterly conference. If another 
person appoints it without his knowledge, it is 
not a legal session, even if a preacher in charge 
presides in it. 

10. A quarterly conference may adjourn from 
time to time to finish any pending business, but 
it cannot adjourn to a distant day to take up new 



Sec. II.] QUARTERLY CONFERENCES. 51 

business which would properly belong to 
a future quarterly conference. (Heckling on 
Disc, p. 36.) 

11. The president of a quarterly conference 
has the right to adjourn the conference over 
which he presides when in his judgment all the 
business prescribed by the Discipline to such 
conference shall have been transacted. But if 
an exception be taken by the conference to his 
so adjourning it, the exception must be entered 
upon the journals of the conference. (Rec. 
Gen. Conf., 1840, p. 121.) 

12. The members present at any regularly 
called quarterly conference constitute a legal 
quorum for the transaction of business. A tie 
vote, in a quarterly conference, decides the 
question in the negative, as the presiding elder 
is not entitled to vote. 

13. The minutes of a quarterly conference 
must be read and approved at the close of the 
session when they are taken: they cannot be 
approved at any subsequent session. The unre- 
corded action of the conference is of no legal 
authority. 



52 THE CONFERENCES. [Chap. II, 

Section III. — Leader J Meetings. 

1. Mr. Wesley gives the following account 
of the origin of class-leaders and leaders 5 meet- 
ings. He had long been perplexed because he 
had no means of learning the private character 
of many of his members. "At length," says 
he, " while we were thinking of quite another 
thing, we struck upon a method for which we 
have had cause to bless God ever since. I was 
talking with several of the society in Bristol 
(Feb. 15, 1742) concerning the means of paying 
the debts there, when one stood up and said, 
6 Let every member of the society give a penny a 
week till all are paid.' Another answered, ' But 
many of them are poor, and cannot afford to do 
it.' 'Then,' said he, 'put eleven of the poor- 
est with me, and if they can give anything, 
well ; I will call on them weekly ; and if they 
can give nothing, I will give for them as well 
as for myself. And each of you call on eleven 
of your neighbours weekly, receive what they 
give, and make up what is wanting.' It was 
done. In a while some of them informed me 
they found such and such a one did not live 
as he ought. It struck me immediately — 
'This is the thing, the very thing we have 



Sec. III.1 LEADERS' MEETINGS. 53 

wanted so long.' I called together all the lead- 
ers of the classes, (so we used to term them and 
their companies,) and desired that each would 
make particular inquiry into the behaviour 
of those whom he saw weekly. They did so. 
Many disorderly walkers were detected. Some 
turned from the evil of their ways ; some were 
put away from us. Many saw it with fears, 
and rejoiced unto God with reverence. As 
soon as possible the same method was used in 
London and all other places." The institution 
of weekly leaders' meetings followed of course. 

2. Leaders' meetings, from their first institu- 
tion, have been composed of the travelling 
preachers stationed in the circuit or station, and 
the stewards and class-leaders of the charge. 
The Discipline does not recognise the office of 
assistant class-leader. Though a member may 
be requested to aid a leader in the discharge of 
his duties, yet this relation does not entitle him 
to a seat in the leaders' meeting, or in the quar- 
terly conference. 

3. To define specifically the duties and pre- 
rogatives of class-leaders and of leaders' meet- 
ings, Mr. Wesley published the following rules 



54: THE CONFERENCES. | Chap. II, 

in 1771 : — " That it may be more easily dis- 
cerned whether the members of our societies 
are working out their own salvation, they are 
divided into little companies called classes. 
One person in each of these is styled the leader. 
It is his business, (1.) To see each person in his 
class once a week ; to inquire how their souls 
prosper; to advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort 
them. (2.) To receive what they are willing to 
give toward the expenses of the society. And, 
(3.) To meet the assistants and the stewards 
once a week. This is the whole and sole busi- 
ness of a leader or any number of leaders. But 
it is common for the assistant in any place 
where several leaders are met together to ask 
their advice as to anything which concerns 
either the temporal or spiritual welfare of the 
society." 

No duties are so specifically assigned to the 
leaders 5 meeting as to require their being held 
in all our circuits and stations ; yet when they 
are held monthly, they are found to be emi- 
nently adapted to promote the interests of the 
Church. 

The ordinary business of a leaders' meeting 
embraces the following items : — 

a. That the leaders have an opportunity "to 



Sec. III.] LEADERS' MEETINGS, 55 

inform the minister of any that are sick, or of 
any that walk disorderly and will not be re- 
proved." 

i. That the pastor may examine the several 
class-books, and ascertain the Christian w^alk 
and character of each member of the Church, 
and learn what members of the flock especially 
need his watch-care and counsel. 

$4 To inquire into the religious state of all 
persons on trial, and ascertain who can be 
recommended by the leader for admission into 
full connexion, and who should be discon- 
tinued. 

d. To examine the several leaders respecting 
their " method of leading their classes." " Let 
this be done with all possible exactness at least 
once a quarter." — Discipline. 

e. To recommend suitable persons to be li- 
censed as exhorters and local preachers. 

f. That the leaders may "pay the stewards 
w T hat they have received of their several classes 
in the week preceding." 

4. Class-leaders, as such, are responsible only 
to the preacher in charge, who may remove 
them at pleasure. 



56 MINISTERS. LChap. Ill, 



CHAPTEK III 

MINISTERS. 

Section I. — Presiding Elders. 

1. The office of presiding elder is coeval with, 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, though the 
name was not given to the office until 1789, 
and its duties were not specifically defined 
until 1792. 

2. The origin and nature of the office are thus 
given by Dr. Coke and Bishop Asbury : "When 
Mr. Wesley drew up a plan of government for 
our Church in America, he desired that no more 
elders should be ordained, in the first instance, 
than were absolutely necessary, and that the 
work on the continent should be divided between 
them, in respect to the duties of their office. 
The General Conference accordingly elected 
twelve elders for the above purposes. Bishop 
Asbury and the district conferences afterward 
found that this order of men was so necessary 
that they agreed to enlarge the number, and 



Sec. I.] PRESIDING ELDERS. 57 

give them the name by which they are at present 
called, and which is perfectly Scriptural, though 
it is not the word used in our translation; 
and this proceeding afterward received the ap- 
probation of Mr. Wesley. In 1792 the General 
Conference, equally conscious of the necessity 
of having such an office among us, not only con- 
firmed everything that Bishop Asbury and the 
district conferences had done, but also drew up, 
or agreed to, the present section for the explana- 
tion of the nature and duties of the office." — 
Notes on the Discipline. 

3. A presiding elder cannot administer disci- 
pline in any society where there is a regularly- 
constituted pastor. If there is no preacher in 
charge, he may discharge all his peculiar func- 
tions. 

4. A preacher sent by a presiding elder to 
hold a quarterly meeting is not the president of 
the quarterly conference, unless he is duly put 
in charge of the circuit or station. 

5. A presiding elder has no authority to per- 
mit a travelling preacher to leave his appropri- 
ate work. If a preacher leaves his charge, the 



58 MINISTERS. [Chap. EH, 

responsibility rests upon him alone, and lie must 
answer it at the annual conference. (Gen. Con. 
Rec. 1840, p. 105.) 

6. A presiding elder may remove a preacher 
from his charge, in the interval of conference, 
and assign him another station within the limits 
of his district ; but he cannot remove him beyond 
the bounds of his district : his powers are wholly 
restricted to these limits. 

7. Presiding elders are superintendents of the 
domestic missions within their bounds severally, 
and are required to make a quarterly report to 
the Corresponding Secretary of the Missionary 
Society of the work under their superintendence ; 
and if they cannot visit each part of their mis- 
sions personally, the missionary must report to 
them quarterly by mail. 

8. In case of application as a missionary to 
preach the gospel in a foreign mission, the pre- 
siding elder of the applicant should furnish the 
bishop having the authority to appoint, testimo- 
nials on the following particulars : — 

a. Character of the applicant's piety. 

5. Manner and effectiveness of his preaching. 



Sec. I.] PRESIDING ELDERS, 59 

e. His natural talents and temper, and the 
probability of his working happily with others. 
d. His judgment, discretion, and common sense. 
e % The extent and qualities of his education. 

f. His habits of improving time, and of seizing 
opportunities of usefulness. 

g. The habits of economy of himself and his 
family. 

A. His facility of acquiring influence over 
others. 

i. His aptness in acquiring languages. 

j. His personal appearance, manners, and 
address. 

h. His character, habits, health, and constitu- 
tion, in view of his particular field. (Missionary 
Manual, p. 7.) 

9. Subjects for correspondence of superintend- 
ents, especially with reference to foreign missions 
and missions among the Indians : — 

a. The peculiar customs of the people among 
whom they labour. 

b. Their language, habits, laws, and govern- 
ment. 

c. Their religious views and worship. 

d. The degree and character of their civiliza- 
tion. 



60 MINISTERS. [Chap. Ill, 

e. Their views and feelings with respect to 
Christianity, and its progress among them, if 
they have made any, 

f. Account of particular conversions and ex- 
periences. (Miss. Manual, p. 17.) 

10. When a presiding elder is appointed or 
elected president of an annual conference, he 
has the same prerogatives as to presiding in con- 
ference, and making out the appointments, as 
those of a bishop ; but such appointment confers 
no prerogative, except those specified above, 
during the session of the conference. 

Section II. — Preacher in Chwrge. 

1. A preacher in charge is one who has the 
pastoral care of a circuit or station, by the ap- 
pointment of the regularly constituted authority 
of the Church. He may be an elder, a deacon, 
an unordained preacher on trial, or a local 
preacher employed by the presiding elder to 
supply some vacancy ; all appointed by compe- 
tent authority possess full and equal powers as 
preachers in charge. 

2. The duties of a preacher in charge are, to 
watch over the moral character and to supply 



Sec. II.] PREACHER IN CHARGE. 61 

the temporal wants of the junior preachers on 
his circuit, if there be any ; to renew the love- 
feast tickets quarterly; to hold watch-nights 
and love-feasts ; to permit no love-feast to last 
longer than one hour and a half; to regulate 
the bands; to see that every band-leader has 
the rules of the bands ; to form believers into 
bands as soon as there are four male or four 
female members in any place; to appoint 
prayer-meetings whenever it is practicable; to 
appoint a fast in every society on the circuit the 
Friday preceding each quarterly meeting, and 
to make a memorandum of it on all the class- 
papers ; to meet the men and women apart in 
the large societies once a quarter wherever it is 
practicable; to read the rules of the society, 
with the aid of the other preachers, once a year 
in every congregation, and once a quarter in 
every society ; to enforce vigorously, but calmly, 
all the rules of the society; to take a regular 
catalogue of the societies in town and cities as 
they live in the streets ; to give a note of recom- 
mendation to members removing from the cir- 
cuit, and to enjoin upon those removing to 
obtain a recommendation; to recommend de- 
cency and cleanliness everywhere ; to appoint a 
person to receive the quarterly collections in 



62 MINISTERS. [Chap. Ill, 

the classes; to report to the annual conference 
the amount raised for the support of missions, 
and for the publication of Bibles and tracts, and 
for the Sunday-School Union ; to form mission- 
ary societies in each congregation ; to take up 
collections for the same, and, aided by the com- 
mittee on missions, to appoint missionary col- 
lectors; to lay before the quarterly conference, 
at each quarterly meeting, a written statement 
of the number and state of the Sunday schools 
in the circuit or station, and to report the same 
to the annual conference; to take an annual 
collection in each of the appointments in behalf 
of the Sunday-School Union ; to form Sunday 
schools in all our congregations where ten 
children can be collected for that purpose; to 
form Bible classes ; to visit the schools as often 
as practicable, and to preach on the subject of 
Sunday schools and religious instruction in each 
congregation at least once in six months; to 
obtain the names of the children belonging to 
his congregation and leave a list of such names 
for his successor; to take up a collection or 
raise a subscription for the purchase and distri- 
bution of tracts ; to catechise the children in 
the Sunday school and at special meetings ap- 
pointed for that purpose; to hold quarterly 



Sec. II.J PREACHER IN CHARGE. 63 

meetings in the absence of the presiding elder ; 
to give an account quarterly of the circuit to 
the presiding elder; to license proper persons 
to officiate as exhorters; to submit the appli- 
cation of all who desire a license as a local 
preacher to the society or leaders' meeting for a 
recommendation to the quarterly conference ; 
to give a certificate of the official standing of a 
local preacher when applied to in case of re- 
moval ; to appoint and change leaders when he 
sees it necessary ; to nominate stewards for the 
confirmation of the quarterly conference ; to 
meet the stewards and leaders frequently; to 
inspect the accounts of the stewards ; to recom- 
mend arbitration between members when there 
is a dispute in reference to pecuniary affairs ; 
to appoint a committee to inspect the accounts, 
contracts, and circumstances of those members 
who fail in business or contract debts which 
they are not able to pay; to call a member 
accused of non-payment of debt before a com- 
mittee for investigation and settlement; to bring- 
to trial and expel, according to Discipline, disor- 
derly members; to call local preachers who 
have failed in business before a committee ; to 
reprove local preachers guilty of indulging in 
improper tempers, words or actions, and to 



64 MINISTERS. iChap. EI, 

call those accused oi crime before an investi- 
gating committee ; to take an account of the 
members in society, and of the probationers. 
and of the local preachers, and make returns 
of them to the annual conference ; to recom- 
mend to every class or society to raise a quar- 
terly or annual subscription to meet the current 
expenses of preaching the gospel on the circuit, 
and to make up the allowance of the preachers ; 
to appoint a person to receive the quarterly col- 
lection in the classes; to take up a yearly col- 
lection, and, if expedient, a quarterly one to 
make up the deficiencies at the annual confer- 
ence ; to be collectors and receivers of subscrip- 
tions, &c, for the Chartered Fund ; to supply 
the societies with books; to leave his successor 
a particular account of the circuit, including an 
account of the subscribers for our periodicals ; 
to keep in a suitable book a faithful record of 
all the subscribers to our periodicals in his 
charge; enter the date and amount of payments 
and leave the book for his successor, and a note 
of the place where it is left on the plan of the 
circuit; (see Gen. Conf. Bee., IS-iO, p. 117 j 
raise a subscription annually, where it is prac- 
ticable, for building churches and paying the 
debts of those which have been already erected ; 



Sec. III.] LOCAL PREACHERS. 65 

to choose a committee of laymen to make a ju- 
dicious appropriation of the money thus raised ; 
to appoint a board of trustees for holding Church 
property when necessary. 

8. The preacher in charge who is a member 
of an annual conference and a preacher on trial, 
is responsible to the annual conference for his 
administration of discipline ; and a local preacher 
in charge of a society is responsible to the quar- 
terly conference* 

Section III. — Local Preachers. 

1. Ko one can be licensed as a local preacher 
until the following steps have been taken : — ■ 

a. He must be recommended by the leaders' 
meeting, or by the society of which he is 
a member. It is not sufficient that he be 
recommended by the class of w r hich he is a 
member. 

b. He must be examined before the quarterly 
conference on the subject of doctrines and dis- 
cipline. 

2. The license of a local preacher is given by 
the quarterly conference, and not by the pre- 
siding elder; and hence the license must be 

5 



66 MINISTERS. [Chap. Ill, 

signed by the president of the conference, even 
if he is the person thus licensed. 

3. A quarterly conference may refuse to re- 
new the license of a local preacher without any 
impeachment of moral character, or finding any 
decrease of piety, talent, or usefulness. (Bishops 
"Waugh and Janes.) 

4. Every license is given for one year, and 
for one year only ; and hence, in the interval of 
a conference year, a license cannot be revoked 
unless the quarterly conference, in due form for 
cause assigned, deprive the local preacher of his 
ministerial office ; and if, at the expiration of the 
year, no conference action is taken upon it, the 
license becomes null and void. The question of 
renewal of licenses may be laid over as unfin- 
ished business until the next succeeding quarter- 
ly conference. If the license of a local preacher 
has expired, the same preliminary steps must be 
taken to regain it as if no license had ever been 
given. The fact that the society has formerly 
recommended a person for local preacher's 
license, would impose no obligation upon it to 
renew the recommendation if the question were 
again submitted to it. If a quarterly conference 



Sec. III.] LOCAL PREACHERS. 67 

refuses to renew the license of a local preacher, 
a subsequent quarterly conference cannot recon- 
sider the question and grant a renewal. 

5. The license of a local preacher " must be 
renewed annually ;" but by this expression it is 
meant that it must be renewed in every ecclesi- 
astical rather than in every calendar year. If, 
by the arrangement of holding quarterly confer- 
ences, the time exceeds by a few weeks the cal- 
endar year, it does not render void the license. 
And if a local preacher should change his resi- 
dence, and it should be found that no quarterly 
conference will be held for a short time after the 
calendar year has expired, the license will remain 
in full force until the question of renewal can be 
submitted. 

6. An ordained local preacher is not required 
to have his credentials renewed annually. His 
ordination parchments authorize him to preach 
until they are surrendered, or made void by 
Church action, or a violation of ordination vows. 
But ordained local preachers are required to pass 
an examination in the quarterly conference re- 
specting their gifts, labours, and usefulness. 
Usage requires that this examination be made 



68 MINISTERS. [Chap, m, 

annually. If a quarterly conference refuses to 
pass the character of a local elder or deacon 
for any alleged reason, the administrator should 
proceed to an investigation of the case, accord- 
ing to disciplinary rule. 

7. Iso local preacher can be employed by a 
presiding elder to travel, except in the interval 
of a quarterly conference, without a recom- 
mendation of a quarterly conference. This 
recommendation may be the usual recommenda- 
tion to an annual conference to be received into 
the travelling connexion, or it may be a simple 
recommendation to be employed, for the time 
being, on a circuit or station. 

8. Every local preacher is amenable to the 
quarterly conference where he resides for his 
Christian character, and the faithful performance 
of his ministerial office. When a preacher is 
located, or discontinued by an annual confer- 
ence, he is amenable to the quarterly conference 
of the circuit where he had his last appointment, 
or where he resides at the time of his location. 
A preacher on trial is " amenable for his admin- 
istration, when he is in charge, to his presiding 
elder and the annual conference. The presiding 



Sec. III.] LOCAL PREACHERS. 69 

elder can correct his errors and reprove him, and 
change his relation by putting him under another 
preacher; and the conference can discontinue 
him for that cause."— -fi^. Sedding. 

9. The following prerequisites are necessary 
for the ordination of a local preacher : — 

a. He must have held a local preacher's license 
for four consecutive years before his ordination. 

b. He must have been examined, in the quar- 
terly conference, on the subject of doctrines and 
discipline. 

c. He must have received a "testimonial" 
from the quarterly conference, signed by the 
president and countersigned by the secretary. 
This testimonial must recommend the applicant 
as a suitable person to receive ministerial orders. 

d. He must pass an examination of character 
before the annual conference, and obtain its ap- 
probation and election to orders. 

The candidate for elder's orders must either 
certify his belief in the doctrines and discipline 
of our Church, with his own signature, or make 
this profession before the conference. 

10. Wesleyan local preachers, from the Brit- 
ish, Irish, and Canada Connexions, when duly 



TO MINISTERS. LChap. Ill, 

received by us, are eligible to deacon's and elder's 
orders at the same time they would have been 
if they had received their first license from us ; 
but this rule applies to none who come from 
other Christian Churches. 

11. The recommendations of quarterly confer- 
ences for the ordination or admission of local 
preachers into the travelling connexion, on trial, 
are not valid after the next annual session for 
which they were given. 

12. The presiding elders and the preachers in 
charge are required so to arrange the appoint- 
ments, whenever it is practicable, as to give the 
local preachers regular and systematic employ- 
ment on the Sabbath; but they cannot control 
the appointments of local preachers, unless they 
conflict with the plan of the circuit. 

13. If a local preacher desires to withdraw 
from the Methodist Episcopal Church, his request 
must be presented to the quarterly conference 
to which he is amenable. The preacher in 
charge can take no other action in the premises 
than to present the request of the local preacher 
to the quarterly conference. 



Sec. IV.] EXHORTEES. 71 

Section IV. — JExhorters. 

1. Bdiorters were recognised in our Church 
at a very early period. Mr. Wesley permitted 
none of his members to hold religious meetings 
without a special note from the assistant. 

2. The character of the office is sufficiently 
indicated by the name. It is not contemplated 
that an exhorter will attempt to preach, — form- 
ally announce a text, and confine himself to the 
elucidation of any particular passage of Scrip- 
ture, — but that he will read a Scripture lesson, 
and make a practical application of its general 
sentiments to the people. This office, when 
faithfully discharged, may be rendered eminent- 
ly serviceable in promoting the interests of the 
Church. 

3. It was required by the conference of 1779 
that " every exhorter and local preacher should 
go by the directions of the assistants,' — -where, 
and only where, they shall appoint." They 
should act under the general direction of the 
preacher in charge. Exhorters and local preach- 
ers should cooperate with the travelling preachers 
in carrying out the general plan of the circuit ; 



72 MINISTERS. [Chap, in, 

and should not hold meetings beyond the limits 
of the charge which recommended their license, 
unless they go forth to break up new growid, or 
are invited to another charge by the requisite 
authority of the Church, 

4 No person can be licensed as an exhorter 
who is not a member in full connexion, or who 
has not been first recommended by the leaders' 
meeting, or by the class of which he is a mem- 
ber, where no leaders' meeting is held, 

5. All licenses to exhort are primarily given 
by the preacher in charge, Every exhorter, 
however, is subject to an annual examination 
of character in the quarterly conference; and 
his license must annually be renewed by the 
presiding elder, or the preacher in charge, if 
approved by the quarterly conference, 

6. Exhorters are responsible for their official 
conduct to the quarterly conference; but they 
cannot be deprived of membership without a 
trial, in due form, before a select committee, or 
the society of which they are members. 



Sec. LI NOTE OF RECOMMENDATION, 73 



CHAPTEE IV. 
CERTIFICATES AND LOVE-FEASTS. 

Section I. — Note of Recommendation. 

1. Eveky member in full connexion, who re- 
moves to another circuit or station, is entitled to 
a note of recommendation, if charges are not 
preferred against him, 

2. If, in the judgment of the preacher in 
charge, there are sufficient reasons for withhold- 
ing a certificate, and the member is willing to 
be tried, the preacher is guilty of maladminis- 
tration unless he proceeds in the trial of such 
person. (Eec. Gen. Con. 1848, p. 98.) 

3. No preacher is under obligation to give a 
certificate of membership to any member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, unless said mem- 
ber wishes to remove his membership to another 
charge in the Methodist Episcopal Church; 
though, as a matter of courtesy, he may give a 
recommendation to a member in good standing 



74 LOVE-FEASTS. [Chap. IV, 

who wishes to unite with another evangelical 
denomination, (Rec. Gen. Con. 1848, p. 59.) 

4. Where charges are contiguous, there may 
be a change of Church relation from the one to 
the other without a change of residence ; but if 
the member removes his residence beyond the 
reach of his privileges, and the oversight of his 
pastor and leader, he must remove his member- 
ship by certificate, unless he has no access to 
Church privileges convenient to his new resi- 
dence. 

5. In case of removals without a letter, the 
preacher has no authority to erase the name 
from the Church register, but should record the 
fact that the person removed without a letter, 

6. When a member receives a certificate of 
membership from a preacher having charge of a 
circuit or station, he is responsible for his moral 
conduct, from the date of his certificate until he 
joins, to the society receiving him upon that 
certificate. (Rec. Gen. Con. 1848, p. 126.) 
While the person holds the certificate in his 
own possession, he cannot claim any privileges 
in any society, or be brought to trial on any 



Sec. L] NOTE OF RECOMMENDATION. 75 

charge or complaint ; but the cause of religion 
and morality may require that the position of 
such a person be published to the world. 

7. The Discipline does not define any time 
beyond which a certificate becomes null and 
void. The preacher in charge may receive a 
member on such certificate at any time, and hold 
him responsible, when he is received, for any- 
thing he may have done while he retained the 
certificate. (Bp. Morris.) 

8. It is not optional with the preacher whether 
he will receive a certificate from a member re- 
siding within the limits of his charge. If the 
certificate is drawn up in due form, and signed 
by the constituted authority, it must be hon- 
oured. If it is known that the person presenting 
the certificate has committed a crime, it would 
serve as no bar to its reception : the certificate 
should be received, and the person be immedi- 
ately put on trial in due form before the society, 
or a select number of them. 

9. Neither a class leader, nor any other 
Church officer, except the preacher of the circuit, 
can give, properly, a note of recommendation. 



76 LOVE-FEASTS. [Chap. IV, 

10. Certificates should not be given to those 
who withdraw from our Church, and do not in- 
tend to unite with any other evangelical Church. 

11. Exhorters who change their residence 
should receive a note of recommendation, certi- 
fying their official relation; and the presiding 
elder having the oversight of the charge to 
which they have removed, may direct that the 
names of such exhorters be entered upon the 
records of the quarterly conference. 

Section II. — Love -Feasts. 

1. Love-feasts, or agapce, were instituted in 
the apostolic age. They ate and drank together 
to signify their Christian love for each other. 
Before receiving their repast the guests washed 
their hands, and public prayers were offered. 
The services were conducted by the bishop, or 
presbyter. A portion of the sacred writings 
was read, and questions were proposed by the 
presiding officer respecting the lesson, which 
were answered by the assembly. Religious in- 
telligence which had been received from other 
Churches was recited, and the acts of the mar- 
tyrs, and letters from bishops and other eminent 
members of the Church, were read. Hymns 



Sec. II.] LOVE-FEASTS. 77 

and psalms were sung, and a collection was 
taken for the widow and the orphan, for the 
poor, the prisoner, and those who had suffered 
shipwreck. 

These seasons were peculiarly interesting to 
the hated and hunted disciples, and rendered 
doubly dear because their religious professions 
cut them off from their associations with their 
early friends. " It is a custom," says Chrysos- 
tom, " most beautiful and beneficial ; for it is a 
supporter of love, a solace of poverty, a modera- 
tor of wealth, and a discipline of humility." 

2. Many of the rites which a guiding Provi- 
dence had made subservient to the interests of 
the Church, in the days of affliction, began to be 
perverted when prosperity dawned upon her* 
Some hoped, by merely banqueting with the 
Church, to secure a moral qualification to be 
admitted into the sacred mysteries ; others 
supposed that by providing general agapce for 
their brethren, they would perform a meritorious 
work which would personally exalt them in the 
sight of God and man ; and others gave occasion 
for pagans to suspect that the same immoralities 
were practised in the Christian festivals that dis- 
graced their own. For these and other reasons 



78 L O V E - F E A S T B. Thap. IV, 

the love-feasts were discontinued, in the Western 
Church, by order of the Council of Carthage, 
A.D. 397. (See Tertullian's Apol. i.. 39; Apes- 

tol. Constitution. Book ii., c. 2S ; Kitto ? s Sac. 
Lit., Art. Agajja-.) 

3. Mr. ^Vesley assigns the following reasons 
for their introduction into the Methodistic 
economy: i; In order to increase in them [per- 
sons in bands] a grateful sense of all his [God's] 
mercies, I desired that one evening in a quarter 
all the men in band, on a second all the vromen, 
would meet : and on a third, both men and 
women together ; that we might together i eat 
bread,' as the ancient Christians did. ' with glad- 
ness and singleness of heart. 5 At these love- 
feasts (so we termed them, retaining the name 
as well as the thing, which was in use from the 
beginning) our food is only a little plain cake 
and water ; but we seldom return from them 
without being fed, not only with the 'meat 
which perisheth/ but with ' that which endureth 
to everlasting life.'" — Wesley s Worhs^ vol. v., 
p. 1S3. 

4. The Discipline contemplates that members 
shall be admitted into love-feasts only by the 



Sec. II.] LOVE-FEA8T8. 79 

presentation of tickets at the door ; but in new 
and sparse settlements it is found impracticable 
to carry this out in every instance. An essential 
Methodist love-feast may be held without tickets. 

5. Members, probationers, and "well-disposed" 
baptized children of our members are entitled to 
admission into love-feast. The term " strangers " 
embraces all other persons, whether members of 
other Christian communions or not. 

6. By established usage the presiding elder is 
entitled to hold the love-feast at the quarterly 



80 CHURCH TRIALS. LChap. V, 



CHAPTER V. 
CHURCH TRIALS. 

Section L— Trial of Members. 

1. We now enter upon a subject of the great- 
est importance to the pastor. The pastoral office 
is instituted to guard and promote the moral 
and religious character of the community. In 
the discharge of its functions counsel, admoni- 
tion, and reproof must frequently be adminis- 
tered, to establish the wavering and to reclaim 
the erring. It cannot be anticipated that those 
duties which call in question the rectitude of 
moral character can be discharged, with true 
Christian fidelity, without occasionally inflaming 
the bad passions of men, and, perhaps, subject- 
ing one's self to a legal prosecution ; and hence 
it is important to inquire how far the civil law 
recognises the right of the full discharge of the 
pastorate. Our political constitutions guarantee, 
in general terms, to every individual the natural 
and inalienable right to worship God according 
to the dictates of one's own conscience, and 



Sec. L] TRIAL OF MEMBERS. 81 

promise that no subject shall be hurt, molested, 
or restrained, in person, liberty, or estate, for his 
religious sentiments or professions, provided that 
he does not disturb the public peace, nor infringe 
upon the rights of others. But these principles 
have been regarded as the basis of religious 
freedom, and the pledge that an enlightened 
conscience shall not be violated, rather than the 
foe to those religious associations which bind its 
members to watch over each other's faith and 
practice with a godly jealousy. It is not pre- 
tended that Churches in this country possess, in 
a legal aspect, more power than other societies 
voluntarily organized, with such gradations of 
officers and judicatories as may subserve the 
moral and religious purposes of their organiza- 
tion. No civil disabilities nor pecuniary fines 
can be inflicted for the grossest violations of cov- 
enant vows ; yet the right of religious societies 
to inquire into the conduct of their members, to 
pass votes of expulsion, and record their pro- 
ceedings against those who violate their covenant- 
relations, has been fully recognised by the civil 
tribunal: nor will courts of justice inquire 
whether the conduct of the aggrieved member 
merited such discipline, provided that the pro- 
ceedings of the Church were according to the 



82 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

established usages of the denomination, and 
done in good faith without malice. And even 
if the case has been submitted to a jury, on the 
trial of the indictment against the accused, and 
the evidence considered insufficient by them 
to convict the accused of the crime in ques- 
tion, it serves as no bar to the religious 
society investigating the case de ?iovo* accord- 
ing to its established regulations. (Eef. 3 John- 
son, 1S3.) 

2. There are certain privileged communica- 
tions which, although they may inflict real injury 
upon personal reputation, yet do not subject a 
person to a criminal prosecution, on the ground 
that the good of society required the divulging 
of private infamy. The giving of the character 
of a servant to a person about to employ him 
may be slanderous or otherwise, as it is done 
with honest intentions, or with a design to injure 
and defame. A representation made by mem- 
bers of a religious society to the pastor, or to a 
Church judicatory having power to hear, exam- 
ine, and redress grievances, in respect to the 
ministry or laity, is jj>ri?na facie a privileged com- 
munication. "The law concedes,'' says Judge 
Cowen ; " the right of petition and remonstrance 



Sec. I.] TRIAL OF MEMBERS. 83 

to a spiritual superior, when they are pre- 
sented with a view to redress. The proper 
channel being pursued, the Church member is 
entitled to the same measure of protection as if 
he had, when writing the libel, been engaged in 
seeking the removal of an inferior officer at the 
hands of a superior, created by the constitution 
or the law."— 19 WendaU, 296; 23 WendaU, 
26 ; 2 Pick., 310. 

3. It is a principle clearly recognised by the 
Discipline of our Church, that no member, in 
full connexion, can be dropped or expelled by 
the preacher in charge until the select commit- 
tee, or the society of which he is a member, 
declares, in due form, that he is guilty of the 
violation of some Scriptural or moral principle, 
or some requisition of Church covenant. The 
restrictive rules guarantee, both to our ministers 
and members, the privilege of trial and of ap- 
peal ; and the General Conference has explicitly 
declared that "it is the right of every member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church to remain in 
said Church, unless guilty of the violation of its 
rules ; and there exists no power in the ministry, 
either individually or collectively, to deprive 
any member of said right." — Pec. Gen. Con. 



84 CHURCH TRIALS. (Chap. V, 

1848, p. 73. The fact that the member is guilty 
of the violation of the rules of the Church must 
be formally proved before the body holding 
original jurisdiction in the case. If the admin- 
istrator personally knows that the charges are 
substantially true, it does not authorize him to 
remove the accused member. The law recog- 
nises no member as guilty until the evidence of 
guilt is duly presented to the proper tribunal, 
and the verdict is rendered. 

4. The mode of removing unworthy members, 
in former times, was very different from the one 
now practised. At every quarterly visitation 
Mr. Wesley gave a ticket to each member, 
bearing the member's name upon it. This 
ticket was a symbol, or tessera* as the an 
cients termed such, denoting that the person 
holding it was recognised as a member of the 
society. 

" These," says Mr. Wesley, " also supplied us 
with a quiet and inoffensive method of removing 
any disorderly member. He has no new ticket 
at the quarterly visitation,— for so often the 
tickets are changed, — and hereby it is immedi- 
ately known that he is no longer of the commu- 
nity." — Wesley's Works* vol. v, p. 182. 



Sec. II.] PRESIDENT OF THE TRIAL. 85 

Section II. — President of the Trial. 

1. An accused member must be brought to 
trial in the presence of a "bishop, elder, deacon, 
or preacher." That a preacher, regularly in 
charge, is authorized ordinarily to preside in the 
trial of a member, none will deny ; and that, 
under certain circumstances, a bishop may pre- 
side, the rule directly asserts. But what are 
those circumstances in which this may legally 
be done ? We reply, that it can be done only 
in those cases in which a bishop is, virtu- 
ally, the preacher in charge. If a society 
is deprived of its pastor, the general super- 
intendency of that society is vested, by the 
General Conference, in the bishop, or in his rep- 
resentative, the presiding elder. It is one of the 
special duties of the superintendency to look 
after the interests of destitute Churches, and to 
make suitable provision for their religious in- 
struction ; and it is one of the excellences of our 
system that no society can be beyond the pale 
of the general superintendency : but where there 
is a pastor, technically called the preacher in 
charge, he must preside at all Church trials of 
members, even if presiding elders and bishops 
are present. The general duties of the several 



86 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

officers known in our economy are specifically 
stated in the Discipline ; and each officer is held 
responsible for the faithful discharge of his re- 
spective duties. The Discipline requires that 
the preacher in charge should pronounce him 
expelled whom the society, or the select com- 
mittee, have found guilty of a crime expressly 
forbidden in the word of God. If members 
wilfully and repeatedly neglect to meet their 
respective classes, and will not amend, it is made 
the duty of "him who has the charge of the 
circuit or station to bring their case before the 
society, or a select number of them." The 
preacher in charge is required to " receive, try. 
and expel members, according to the form of 
Discipline." The history of the rule confirms 
the exposition we have given. The section re- 
specting " bringing to trial disorderly members " 
was drawn up by Bishop Asbury, in 1788, and 
introduced into the Discipline in the following 
year. The original section did not specify by 
whom the convicted member should be expelled, 
but it was indefinitely stated, " Let him be ex- 
pelled." But a note was appended to the Min- 
utes, in the same year, explanatory of this 
section, and setting forth upon whom the respon- 
sibility of conducting a Church trial rested: 



Sec. II.] PRESIDENT OF THE TRIAL. 87 

"As a very few persons have in some respects 
mistaken our meaning, in the thirty-second sec- 
tion of our form of Discipline, on bringing to 
trial disorderly members, &c, we think it neces- 
sary to explain it. When a member of our 
society is to be tried for any offence, the officia- 
ting minister ', or preacher, is to call together all 
the members, if the society be small, or a select 
number of it if it be large, to take knowledge, 
and give advice, and bear witness to the justice 
of the whole process ; that improper and private 
expulsions may be prevented for the future." 
In 1792 the rule was amended, to remove all 
obscurity, so as to read : " Let the minister or 
preacher who has the charge of the circuit expel 
him." Rev. William Watters, the first Ameri- 
can preacher who joined the itinerancy, also 
shows how the rule was understood in the days 
of the fathers. " But while he [the bishop] su- 
perintends the whole work," he remarks, "he 
cannot interfere with the particular charge of 
any of the preachers in their stations. To see 
that the preachers fill their places with proprie- 
ty, and to understand the state of every station 
or circuit, that he may the better make the ap- 
pointment of the preachers, is, no doubt, no 
small part of his duty ; but he has nothing to do 



88 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

with receiving, censuring, or excluding mem- 
bers : this ielongs wholly to the stationed preacher 
and members? — Memoirs, p. 105. 

2. A presiding elder may appoint a preacher 
from another circuit on his district to the charge, 
to preside at a Church trial, when the circum- 
stances of the case seem to demand it. In such 
cases the former preacher in charge becomes a 
junior preacher, until the close of the trial. 
But no preacher in charge can transfer his 
authority to another preacher on his own respon- 
sibility. 

3. A junior preacher cannot preside at the 
trial of a member. If the senior preacher can- 
not attend, the presiding elder should put the 
junior preacher, or some other preacher, in 
charge during the trial. 

Section III. — Complcvmt. 

1. When public rumour accuses a member of 
having committed a crime, prudential considera- 
tions would dictate that the pastor, or a commit- 
tee, be appointed to visit the person so accused, 
and examine the foundation of the reports, be- 
fore any other action is taken. If the reports 



Sec. III.] COMPLAINT. 89 

are evidently unfounded, the member is not 
mortified by the additional report that he has 
been arraigned before the Church. Such a com- 
mittee is prepared also to rescue the character 
of a suffering brother, by a presentation of the 
facts which a diligent investigation elicited. 
Such a procedure also shows the care and jeal- 
ousy with which the Church watches over the 
Christian reputation of her members. If the 
committee are painfully convinced that the re- 
ports are well founded, they are prepared to 
state such facts as are necessary for the forming 
of a correct and proper bill of charges. 

2. The administrator of discipline must ordi- 
narily reduce to suitable form the charges and 
specifications from the rough story of the com- 
plainant. To give no attention to any com- 
plaints except such as are presented in due 
form, is to neglect the greatest number of those 
requiring the special investigation of the Church. 

3. A bill of charges should not be drawn on 
the mere declaration of a complainant that he 
"has probable cause to suspect" a member of 
being guilty of crime ; but even this, under 
some circumstances, might justify the raising of 



90 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

a committee to investigate the facts in the case. 
Nor is a report, made by one whose testimony 
would not be received in an ecclesiastical court, a 
sufficient basis to justify an arrest of character, 
unless there are collateral circumstances or facts 
to corroborate the statements of the accuser. 

4. Any crime, committed at however remote 
a period, if it be within the time in which the ac- 
cused has been a member of the Church, is indict- 
able ; but it cannot extend to any period beyond 
membership. Charges of immorality against 
preachers should not be restricted to the time in 
which they have been in the ministry, but may ex- 
tend to anytime within their Church membership. 

5. It does not destroy the actionable character 
of a complaint, that the predecessor of the ad- 
ministrator, though acquainted with the facts, 
took no legal notice of them. The indictable 
character of an act depends upon the fact 
whether it is a violation of the moral law and 
Church covenant, and not upon the administra- 
tion of frail man. 

6. Accessories to crime may be complained 
of before or after the fact ; and the same pro- 



Sec. III.] COMPLAINT. 91 

ceedings should be had, in every respect, as if 
the accused were charged of being principal in 
the offence. 

7. In drawing out a bill of charges the follow- 
ing order should be observed : — 

a. A brief statement of the charge. 

b. The specification, or specifications, by which 
it is sustained. 

This order should be observed until every 
charge is presented, and the different specifica- 
tions are arranged under their appropriate heads. 
For example : — 

I. Charge— Theft. 

1. Specification — " In taking, on the fourth 
of July," &c. 

2. Specification — . 

II. Charge — Falsehood. 

1. Specification — •" In saying," &c. 

2. Specification . 

8. The object of the rule requiring the charge 
to be particularly set forth is threefold : first, to 
apprize the accused of the precise nature of the 
charge made against him ; secondly, to enable 
the court to determine whether the facts consti- 
tute an offence, and to render the proper award 






92 CHUKCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

thereon ; and, thirdly, that the judgment may 
be a bar to any future prosecution for the same 
offence. (3 Stark. Ev., 1527.) 

9. Every charge should involve an offence 
which, if fully sustained, and -without any miti- 
gating circumstances, would be of a sufficiently 
aggravating character to demand a special 
Church penalty. 

10. There should be a perfect correspondence 
between the charge and the specifications. 
Every specification, if fully sustained, ought to 
be of such a character as to sustain the charge ; 
and it ought not to involve a higher offence than 
that which is charged against him. If the 
charge is immorality, no specifications should 
be given under it which involve only an impru- 
dence ; and if the charge is imprudent conduct, 
no specification should be given which involves 
an immorality. 

11. Every charge should be expressed in as 
mild language as possible, and yet involve an 
actionable offence ; and as few charges and 
specifications should be given as practicable, and 
yet secure the great object of Church action. 



Sec. III.l COMPLAINT. 93 

12. Two distinct crimes should not be set 
forth under one charge, unless they are of such 
a character that, when they are committed, they 
constitute but one legal offence, — as assault and 
battery: the latter includes the former. And 
each specification should set forth one, and only 
one, averment of the offence specified in the 
charge. The specifications should be stated in 
the most explicit and perspicuous language, and 
all immaterial facts, not necessary ingredients 
of the offence, should be carefully avoided. All 
averments should be made positively that the 
accused did so and so, and not by way of recital 
or argument. 

13. Every complaint, setting forth a crime, 
should specify the time and place in which it 
was committed ; but the charge of disseminating 
erroneous doctrine, or of being unacceptable, 
inefficient, or secular, does not, in most cases, 
admit of specific particularity. In these cases 
it is the serial character of the acts which, to a 
very great extent, constitutes the offence. 

14. Any error in the name of the person, or 
in the circumstances described in the bill of 
charges, provided the general meaning is clearly 



91* CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

expressed, and the error is of such a character 
as not to change the issue of the case, ought not 
to be deemed a bar to the proceedings. The 
ends of justice ought never to suffer from mere 
technicalities ; but the charges and specifications 
must be so correctly drawn that the accused may 
fully understand, from the complaint itself, the 
true nature of the case, and what he must show 
to declare his own innocence. 

15. All complaints setting forth charges and 
specifications must be signed by some member 
of the Church. If the complaint is originally 
made by a person not a member of the Church, 
the bill of charges must be signed by one over 
whom the Church exercises jurisdiction. It is 
not necessary that the person signing the bill of 
charges should be an accuser ^ in the sense of the 
Discipline. "An aggrieved person,' 5 says Bishop 
M'Kendree, "may be a complainant; but our 
Discipline does not recognise any one as an ac- 
cuser unless he be a witness in the case against 
the accused," 

16. It is not advisable that a presiding elder 
should sign a bill of charges against a preacher 
which must be investigated before himself; nor 



Sec. III.] COMPLAINT. 95 

should a preacher in charge sign a bill of 
charges against one of his members, unless the 
members of the Church refuse to do it. In 
those cases where a preacher in charge feels it 
his duty to prefer a charge against a member of 
his flock, the presiding elder should, ordinarily, 
put some other preacher in charge to try the 
case. 

It is a principle universally regarded in civil 
proceedings that no judge shall be counsel, 
nor act as attorney, nor advise nor assist any 
party in any case which will come before him ; 
and the principle is so manifestly founded in 
justice that it should not be disregarded in eccle- 
siastical proceedings. In those extreme cases 
where a member cannot be found who will 
sign a bill of charges, there must exist such pe- 
culiarities and difficulties in the case as not only 
to require a strictly impartial presiding officer, 
but one who will have the reputation of being 
impartial. 

17. Where several persons are accused of 
having been connected in the commission of 
any crime, the charges and specifications should 
be made out separately, and each person tried 
separately. 



96 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

18. Every member accused of crime is enti- 
tled to a copy of the charges and specifications, 
for a time sufficiently long before the trial for 
him to prepare his defence. 

Competent counsel, who are also members of 
the Church, should be allowed him at his request, 
and liberty to make full defence by himself and 
counsel, and to make any proof by competent 
witnesses which he may produce. 

19. If a copy of the charges and specifica- 
tions, duly signed, is left at the usual residence 
of the accused, it should be deemed a sufficient 
citation, even if the accused has fled from the 
place, or his present residence is not known. 

Section IV. — Select Committee. 

1. The Discipline requires that an accused 
member shall be brought before "the society 
of which he is a member, or a select number 
of them." In either case it should be under- 
stood that only members in full connexion 
are intended. In 1789 the following expla- 
nation of the rule was published in the Dis- 
cipline : " Call together all the members, if the 
society be small, or a select number, if it be 
large." 



Sec. IV.] SELECT COMMITTEE. 97 

2. The preacher in charge must determine 
whether the accused should be brought before 
the whole society, or a select number of them. 
If before a select number, the preacher must 
appoint them. The right of challenge is not 
recognised in the Discipline. No accused per- 
son, brought before the civil tribunal, is ever 
tried before a jury of his own selecting. If the 
preacher does not appoint an impartial and 
judicious committee, the accused, if condemned, 
may take an appeal to the quarterly conference ; 
or, if the preacher has overleaped his authority, 
he may be arrested before the annual conference* 
Bishop M'Kendree remarks : " If an accused per- 
son has any well-grounded objection to any one 
called to sit on his trial as a committee-man, a 
prudent and judicious administrator would leave 
out the person objected to, and, if necessary, 
supply the place with another. 55 

3. " In selecting a committee for the trial of a 
member," Bishop Hedding remarks, " a preacher 
ought to be very careful to obtain wise, pious, 
and candid men, who will do justice both to the 
accused person and to the Church. There should 
be a sufficient number of them to form a respect- 
able court: for the decision of so important a 



98 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V 

matter should not be left to two or three indi- 
viduals." 

The committee should consist of men of such 
acknowledged probity and intelligence, that their 
opinions will be respected, both by the Church 
and the world. Many persons of deep and ar- 
dent piety, unaccustomed to weigh evidence and 
balance testimony, and whose hearts are full of 
gushing sympathy for the erring, are not well 
qualified to discharge the duties of a select com- 
mittee, where the honour and reputation of the 
Church are at stake. No less qualifications, cer- 
tainly, should be deemed satisfactory in those 
who sit in solemn judgment on the moral and 
Christian reputation of one for whom Christ 
died, than is demanded of the juror at a civil 
tribunal. Such are required to be men of pro- 
bity and intelligence, free from personal interest 
and party prejudice: much more should the 
Christian man be free from all undue bias while 
investigating the character of a professed mem- 
ber of the body of Christ. The peace and pros- 
perity of the Church, and the salvation of the 
accused, stand so closely connected with the re- 
sults of a Church trial, that justice and equity 
should be most impartially administered. Many 
causes, such as kindred, prejudice, &c, which 



Sec. IV.] SELECT COMMITTEE. 99 

would not render a witness incompetent, are 
sufficient to disqualify him as a member of the 
select committee. It is advisable that a majori- 
ty of the committee should not be members of 
the quarterly conference, where suitable private 
members can be found ; that, in case of appeal, 
a new board may decide upon the merits of the 
case. 

4. "The circumstances of the case," says 
Chief Justice Pennington, " the probable or im- 
probable nature of the facts detailed, the char- 
acter of the witness, the manner of his giving 
testimony, must all be taken into consideration, 
and ought, after being duly weighed, to carry 
conviction to the minds of the jury before they 
give it [the testimony] an effect by their verdict. 
Should a witness relate a fact which, from its 
improbable nature, or from the badness of the 
character of the witness, taken together with the 
circumstances in the case, on due consideration 
does not carry a belief of the fact home to the 
minds of the jury, but, on the other hand, they 
believe what the witness hath related is false, — 
in that case what he has said is no evidence to 
them, and they are not bound to give any weight 
to it ; but, on the contrary, if they act upon it, 



100 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

or rather make up their verdict upon it, such 
conduct is a departure from their duty, and little 
short of a violation of their oath." The weight 
of testimony is a question belonging to the select 
committee exclusively. 

5. A preacher has no authority, with or with- 
out the consent of the parties and of the pre 
siding elder, to select a committee residing be 
yond the limits of the charge for the trial of an 
accused member. The term "society" in the 
rule, refers either to those members who meet 
in the same place for religious worship, or to all 
the members on the same circuit or station. 
(Bishop Hedding.) 

6. The committee have no right, in forming 
their opinion, to take into consideration any 
facts within their own cognizance, of which no 
evidence was presented in the case. If any 
member of the committee knew any important 
fact, he should have stated it as a witness. 

7. Making up judgment. 

a. The committee must first inquire whether 
the specifications have been sustained by evi- 
dence. 



Sec IV.] hi E L E C T C M M J T T I •: E, 101 

J. Whether, the specifications being sustain- 
ed, the charge is proved. All the specifica- 
tions may be proved, and yet the charge be 
not sustained ; but if the specifications are not 
sustained, the charge, of course, cannot be sus- 
tained. 

c. The whole question of guilt rests upon the 
decision of the committee. They are to decide, 
if it is a charge of immorality, whether the 
crime is one of the first or second degree. There 
may be palliating circumstances which should 
be taken into the account, and which greatly 
modify the guilt, and hence should change the 
penalty. Bishop Hedding remarks: "Another 
question has arisen here. "When the ' select 
number 5 judges a member guilty of the act of 
which he is accused, who is to judge whether 
that aot is a crime, in the sense of the rule — the 
select number, or the preacher? The select 
number: for the crime is included in the judg- 
ment of i guilty.' When the judgment of guilty 
is rendered, the rule says, ' Let the minister ex- 
pel him.' " 

d. The judgment of th$ committee should 
never be given verbally, but it should be written, 
and signed by all of the committee who approve 
of the decision. A majority of the committee 



102 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

is competent to render a verdict in a Church 
trial. 

It is not expected of the committee that they 
will set forth, in their verdict, the grounds of 
their judgment ; but there may be circumstances 
in which this may be necessary. 

The committee are allowed to have before 
them all the maps, charts, and written docu- 
ments which were admitted during the trial. 

8. It is a question of great practical import- 
ance, What is the true relation which the pre- 
siding officer sustains to the select committee? 
Ought the preacher to remain with the commit- 
tee while they are preparing their verdict ? On 
this question Bishop Hedding remarks : " Cer- 
tainly he ought, for he is pastor of the flock ; 
and he would greatly neglect his duty were he 
to be absent, and consequently not know on what 
law or evidence the judgment is rendered." 
Mr. "Wesley believed that the New Testament 
makes the pastor responsible to Christ for the 
purity of the flock, and hence he should judge 
as to the guilt or innocence of the accused mem- 
ber. Our fathers administered the Discipline on 
this principle up to the year 1800. It was then 
provided that the society, or select committee, 



Sec. IV.] SELECT COMMITTEE. 103 

should pronounce an opinion upon the guilt 
or innocence of the accused ; and the action of 
the preacher was to be governed by this de- 
cision. The entire responsibility of the decision 
of guilty, we repeat, rests alone upon the com- 
mittee. The preacher, under no circumstances, 
should attempt to balance the evidence, weigh 
probabilities, determine the credibility of wit- 
nesses, or draw inferences from the facts proved, 
and thus determine disputed questions of fact, 
even at the request of the parties. "No judi- 
cious administrator of the Discipline," says 
Bishop Morris, " will let the committee, or any 
other person, know his opinion of the case, 
either before the trial or during its progress, 
till the committee have made their decision and 
signed their names to it." 

9. When the words of a charge or specifica- 
tion are susceptible of two meanings, the select 
committee must determine in what sense they 
are used. 

10. When an accused member is brought to 
trial before the society, all members in full con- 
nexion, whether males or females, are entitled 
to vote. It is usually preferable to bring an 



104 C H U S C H TKIALS, [.Chap. V, 

accused member before a select committee, rath- 
er than the whole society. The select committee 
may consist in part of females, where the cir- 
cumstances seem to demand it, Usage, how- 
ever, restricts the select committee to males. 
(Bishop Janes.) 

Section Y,—The Tried, 

1. It is the duty of the presiding officer to 
conduct the religious services of the occasion, 
to read the names of the select committee and 
the counsel of the parties, to appoint a secretary 
to keep a correct record of the trial, to read the 
charges and specifications to the accused, to de- 
cide who are competent witnesses, and whether 
the documents offered are admissible, and to de- 
cide all questions of law which arise in the pro- 
cess of the trial. If the accused is expelled, 
and dissatisfied with the ruling of the presiding 
officer, he has the following remedy. On a 
question of law, either party may appeal to the 
decision of the president of the next annual con- 
ference. The accused may appeal to the ensuing 
quarterly conference, or he may charge the pre- 
siding officer with maladministration before the 
annual conference. 



Seo. V.] THE TRIAL, 105 

2. Mode of conducting a trial. 

a. The arraignment. 

(1.) Eeading the charges and specifications 

to the accused. 
(2.) Demanding his reply to the charge. 

b. The accuser calls and examines his witnesses. 
Cross-examination by the accused. 

<?. The accused puts in his evidence. Cross- 
examination by the accuser. 

d. Rebutting testimony by the accuser. 

e. Rebutting testimony by the accused, 
f. Closing arguments. 

(1.) By the accuser. 

(2.) By the accused. 

(3.) By the accuser. 
g. Yerdict by the committee. 
h. Announcement of acquittal or expulsion 

by the presiding officer. 

3. If the accused voluntarily confesses that he 
is guilty of the charge, no further evidence will 
of course follow : the case is at once to be sub- 
mitted to the committee. 

4. If the accused refuses to answer to the 
charge, or answers foreign to the purpose, it is 



106 CHUKCH TRIALS. LChap. V, 

deemed in law equivalent to answering not 
guilty, unless lie is dumb ex visitatione Dei. 

5. Xo member can be held to answer on a 
second indictment for any offence of which he 
has been acquitted by a committee, on the facts 
and merits, on a former trial. But if he is ac- 
quitted upon the ground of a variance betweec 
the indictment and the proof, or upon any ex- 
ception to the form and substance of the indict- 
ment, he may be tried on a new process, and 
convicted for the same offence, notwithstanding 
such former acquittal. A plea of former acquit- 
tal is valid only when the accused has been ac- 
quitted in due form by a tribunal competent to 
make a final disposition. If a local or travelling 
preacher, therefore, should be acquitted by a 
committee called by the preacher in charge, or 
the presiding elder, such acquittal would serve 
as no bar to a subsequent arraignment, on the 
same charges and specifications, before the quar- 
terly or annual conference : for these tribunals 
alone have original jurisdiction over local and 
travelling preachers. 

6. "When the accused has any special mat- 
ter to plead in abatement, or bar to the pro 



Bee. VJ THE TRIAL. 107 

ceeding3, it should be plead at the opening of 
the case. 

7. Omissions and errors, when the true intent 
evidently appears, may be corrected ; but no 
amendment can, during the progress of the trial, 
be admitted which in any degree changes the 
issue of the case. During the trial a new charge 
or specification cannot be admitted ; yet a charge 
or specification may be withdrawn before a ver- 
dict is rendered. For example, when a charge 
is brought for slander, consisting of two counts, 
say of theft and perjury, the specification of 
perjury may be withdrawn, and all the testimo- 
ny by which it was supported, and the verdict 
be rendered merely in reference to the specifica- 
tion of theft. 

8. When charges are preferred against a 
member, the preacher in charge has no right to 
rule out of the bill of charges any specification 
which is legally actionable under our rules of 
discipline ; but an annual or quarterly confer- 
ence may retain or dismiss the whole or any part 
of the bill of charges as it may judge proper. 

9. When an important witness is absent by 



108 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

no fault of the party for which he is to testify, 
or when a party is surprised by evidence which 
they did not anticipate, the trial may be ad- 
journed upon application of the party, at the 
discretion of the presiding officer, to some suit- 
able time when all the important witnesses may 
be present. 

10. Averments of immaterial facts, not neces- 
sary ingredients in the offence, and without 
which the complaint would be good, may be 
rejected, and need not be proved. 

11. If an accused member evades a trial by 
absenting himself after sufficient notice has been 
given, and without requesting any one to appear 
in his behalf, it does not preclude the necessity 
of a formal trial. The preacher in charge should 
appoint competent counsel to conduct the de- 
fence, and all the evidence in the case should be 
presented in due form to the committee. If the 
committee decide that the circumstances of the 
accusation afford strong presumption of guilt, the 
accused is to be esteemed as guilty, and accord- 
ingly excluded by the preacher in charge ; but 
in no case can expulsion take place until such a 
verdict is rendered. The committee, and not the 



Sec. V.] THE TKIAL. 109 

preacher in charge, must decide when a member 
" evades a trial," in the sense of the Discipline. 

12. The trial must be limited to the particular 
charge brought against the accused. If a differ- 
ent crime is proved from the one alleged against 
him, he cannot be held to answer to it, unless 
there is a new T bill of charges, setting forth the 
particular offence complained of, and a trial de 
novo held, according to the form of Discipline. 

13. There may be circumstances which would 
justify a preacher in refusing to entertain a bill 
of charges, even when signed by respectable 
members of the Church. In such cases the 
accusers may, if they deem it proper, complain 
of the preacher to his presiding elder, or to the 
conference, for neglect of duty ; and the pre- 
siding elder may remove him from the charge, 
and the conference try him for maladminis- 
tration. 

14. After charges have been entertained, and 
the trial has proceeded until the complainant has 
produced his testimony, the case cannot then be 
dismissed without the consent of the complainant. 
(Bishop Waugh.) 



110 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

15. A person not a member of our Church 
should not be allowed to conduct the trial of a 
member ; but if the accused desires assistance 
in conducting his defence, all necessary aid 
should be given him. The accused member 
may select his own counsel, provided that such 
counsel belong to the same society, and is not a 
party in the suit. 

16. In no case should a preacher from another 
circuit or station appear as counsel for a member 
or local preacher. Nor can a preacher from an- 
other conference be admitted as counsel in the 
trial of a travelling preacher. 

17. It is highly improper, ordinarily, to con- 
duct a trial in a public congregation. None 
should be present except the parties summoned ; 
at least, unless they are members of the Church. 

18. When testimony has been admitted and 
journalized, it cannot be taken from the record 
without the consent of both parties. 

Section VI. — General Laws of Evidence. 

1. Every administrator of discipline should 
have a correct knowledge of the general laws 



Sec VL1 LAWS OF EVIDENCE. Ill 

of evidence, as established by the civil judi- 
ciary : for though in ecclesiastical courts mere 
technicalities should never subvert the principles 
of equity, yet the general laws of evidence, es- 
tablished by the wisdom of ages, are as applica- 
ble in establishing matters of fact before an 
ecclesiastical tribunal as before a civil. Some 
of these principles are the following : — 

2. First. The evidence must correspond with 
the allegations, and be confined to the point in 
issue. It is supposed that nothing will be ex- 
pressed in the bill of charges which is immate- 
rial ; and hence every allegation set forth should 
be supported by direct testimony. If, however, 
the specifications are drawn out with unnecessa- 
ry particularity, a judicious committee might 
consider as surplusage whatever is not necessary 
to constitute the crime. Extraneous facts tend 
to draw away the minds of the committee from 
the point in issue, and operate unj ustly upon the 
accused ; for he cannot be supposed to have pre- 
pared himself to meet any point except the gen- 
eral one set forth in the bill of charges. 

3. Secondly. It is sufficient if the substance 
of the issue be proved. The civil law makes a 



112 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

distinction between allegations of matter of 
substance and allegations of essential descrip- 
tion. It is sufficient if the former be substan- 
tially proved : but the latter must be proved with 
literal precision. In ecclesiastical trials, where 
we have to deal with actions which are criminal 
in themselves, whatever may have been the 
circumstances in which they took place, the rule 
may be applied, with hardly an exception, that 
it is sufficient if the substance of the allegation 
be proved. " If, in an action for malicious 
prosecution, the plaintiff alleges that he was 
acquitted of the charge on a certain day, here 
the substance of the allegation is the acquittal ; 
and it is sufficient if this fact be proved on any 
day, the time not being material." If the aver- 
ment is divisible, and enough is proved to con- 
stitute an offence, it would be deemed sufficient, 
both in a civil and in an ecclesiastical court, 
that one part merely was proved. Thus an in- 
dictment for stealing two notes of equal value 
would be sustained if the evidence only proved 
that one note was stolen. In a proceeding to pro- 
tect public morals, nothing should be deemed es- 
sential but that which constitutes the act a crime. 

4. Thirdly. The obligation of proving any 



Sec. VI.] LAWS OF EVIDENCE. 113 

fact lies upon the party who substantially asserts 
the affirmative of the issue. It is generally suf- 
ficient to oppose a direct denial to a direct alle- 
gation, until it is established by evidence, or by 
strong collateral circumstances. As the party in 
the affirmative is entitled to begin and to reply, 
he should bring forward all his evidence before 
any defence is made. The rule seems to have 
been based upon the fact that, in most cases, 
it is impossible to prove a negative as readily 
and explicitly as an affirmative. If a man has in- 
dulged in the use of ardent spirits to intoxication, 
that is usually susceptible of proof; but it might 
be exceedingly difficult for an innocent man to 
prove that he was not intoxicated on a given day. 

5. Fourthly. The best evidence should be 
procured of which the nature of the case is 
susceptible. This rule does not forbid the intro- 
duction of testimony of different degrees of 
strength, but it requires that strong evidence 
should not be withheld when it is known to be 
in the possession of the party. "When such 
testimony is withheld, the design is evidently 
fraudulent. Oral testimony cannot be substi- 
tuted for documentary, when such testimony 
can be procured. 



114 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

6. Hearsay evidence. This term is applied both 
to written and to oral testimony, and relates to 
such as does not derive its value solely from the 
credit given to the witness himself, but rests also, 
in part, on the veracity of others. Hearsay 
evidence is universally held as incompetent to 
establish any specific fact which is susceptible 
of being proved by living witnesses. " If," says 
Justice Buller, "the first speech were without 
oath, another oath that there was such speech 
makes it no more than a bare speaking, and 
so of no value in a court of justice." — Bull. 
2T. P., 294. 

7. In the following cases hearsay testimony is 
received in civil courts : — 

a. In matters of public and general interest, 
where the health or happiness, reputation 
or prosperity of the whole community is in- 
volved. 

h. In matters of ancient possessions, where it 
is supposed that no original witnesses are now 
living. 

c. Declarations and entries made by persons 
since deceased, and against the interests of the 
persons making them at the time they were 
made. 



Sec. VIL] WITNESSES. 115 

d. Dying declarations of sane persons. 

e. The testimony of deceased witnesses, given 
in a former action between the same parties. 



Section VlL — Wit 

1. The Roman law required the evidence of 
two witnesses as the foundation of a decree. In 
our courts one witness, if his testimony is cor- 
roborated by strong collateral circumstances, is 
sufficient to establish facts. In ecclesiastical 
trials, while a single allegation, rebutted by a 
positive denial, should not be deemed sufficient 
to destroy the Christian character of one in 
whom the Church had reposed the fullest confi- 
dence, yet a single testimony, corroborated by 
strong collateral circumstances, may convince 
an intelligent committee of the moral certainty 
of the guilt of the accused. 

2. Common law forbids that a party to the 
record in a civil suit should testify, either for 
himself or for a co-suitor in the cause ; and the 
same principle holds equally good in all ecclesi- 
astical examinations. If the complainant has 
no other interest in the case than is common to 
all the members of the Church, he should be 
allowed to testify. 



116 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

3. Neither husband nor wife can testify in 
any civil or criminal cause in which one of them 
is a party. To secure domestic happiness, it is 
held that neither of them should be required to 
divulge any confidential communications obtain- 
ed by the hallowed confidence of the marriage 
relation. No other relationship, except that of 
husband and wife, disqualifies a person from 
testifying for or against another. In ecclesias- 
tical courts, however, the husband and wife 
should mutually be allowed to testify for 
each other, and the committee should give 
such weight to it as they consider it is en 
titled to. 

4. Persons deficient in understanding are in 
competent witnesses. 

When the deaf and dumb are produced in 
civil courts, it must be shown by the party 
producing them that they are persons of suffi- 
cient understanding to give testimony. 

In regard to children, there is no precise age 
within which they are absolutely rejected. At 
the age of fourteen it is presumed that every 
person is competent, until the opposite is shown. 
Some have been admitted as early as five years 
of age to testify in civil courts. 



Sec. VII.] WITNESSES. 117 

5. Persons insensible to the obligations of an 
oath,— as atheists, and those made infamous by 
having been convicted of flagrant crimes, as 
felony, forgery, perjury, &c, — are deemed in- 
competent to testify before a civil tribunal. 
Nor should they be listened to in an eccle- 
siastical investigation, unless their statements 
are corroborated by strong collateral circum- 
stances, or they have been reformed in their 
morals. 

6. Persons of reputed veracity are competent 
witnesses in a Church trial, without regard to 
their particular religious belief or Church rela- 
tion. "Witnesses from without" the pale of 
the Church " shall not be rejected." 

7. The presiding officer of a trial must deter- 
mine the competency of a witness ; but the 
society, or select committee, must determine 
what weight, if any, should be given to the 
testimony. 

8. Though we would not say that a pastor is 
not a competent witness against any of his flock, 
yet we would repeat, that if he is the principal 
witness, the presiding elder should put another 



118 CHURCH TRIALS. |Chap. V, 

preacher in charge to preside at the trial. In 
civil courts the same person cannot be both 
judge and witness. If another judge is pres- 
ent and presides, a judge may be sworn and 
testify; but not otherwise. And though a 
preacher in charge does not sustain the same 
relation to an ecclesiastical court that a judge 
does to a civil, yet there are so many analogies 
between them that it is ordinarily inexpedient 
that the same person should be both presiding 
officer of the trial and a witness. 

Section VIII. — Examination of Witnesses. 

1. "Witnesses are to be examined first by the 
party producing them, and afterward cross- 
examined by the opposite party. 

2. The presiding officer may order that the 
witnesses be examined out of the hearing of 
each other, when he deems it essential to the 
discovery of truth. 

3. Each witness should be called upon to re- 
late what he knows of the case, and his testimony 
should be written, and read to him as taken by 
the secretary, to insure perfect accuracy in the 
records. Every question and answer should be 



Sec. Vm.] EXAMINATION. 119 

written which either party deems essential to 
the case. 

4. Leading questions are not allowed in direct 
examination, but they are admissible in cross- 
examination. Leading questions are those 
which suggest to the witness the desired answer. 

Example : Was not the said A B in 

M- on the fourth of July lastr? Leading 

questions are permitted in direct examination 
where the witness appears to be hostile to the 
party producing him, and where an omission is 
evidently caused by want of recollection. 

5. A witness is not permitted to write down 
his testimony to read in court ; but he is per- 
mitted to assist his memory by a written instru- 
ment or memorandum. It is not necessary that 
this memorandum should have been made 
by the witness, or be admissible in itself as 
evidence. 

6. "Witnesses in general must depose to such 
facts only as are within their own knowledge. 
In some cases persons are required to state their 
opinions or belief. Examples : the testimony of 
medical men, whether death could be produced 



120 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

by certain causes; whether certain circum- 
stances indicated a sane or insane state of mind. 
Professional books are not admissible in evidence. 
In ecclesiastical courts, says Dr. Greenleaf, 
the witnesses are interrogated as to their im- 
pression and belief whether the crime was com- 
mitted : for though the court would not rely on 
their opinion merely, yet it has a right to know 
their opinion. 

7. A witness, while giving his testimony, may 
recall and correct his testimony ; but it should 
be taken down just as it is given, with all its 
corrections : and it is for the committee to de- 
cide whether the latter statements are more 
worthy of belief than the former. 

8. All exceptions to evidence ought to be 
made at the time when it is first taken. After 
verdict it is too late to take an exception, which 
the other party might have obviated by evi- 
dence, if it had been taken at the time. 

9. "Witnesses in civil courts are not compelled 
to answer any questions which will degrade or 
expose them to penal liability ; but as our eccle- 
siastical courts are not so legalized that any 



Sec. Vm.] EXAMINATION. 121 

witness is compelled to answer any question, this 
subject need not be considered. The presiding 
officer must decide whether the question is a 
proper one, 

10. If no counsel appear for the complainant, 
the presiding officer should put such questions 
as may be necessary to elicit the truth, guarding 
carefully against any bias toward either party. 
No question should be put to a witness the rele- 
vancy of w T hich does not appear. 

11. A witness in an ecclesiastical court ought 
not to be put on oath : it can accomplish no 
good. Such oaths are extrajudicial, and not 
legally binding. ISTo oaths are held by the civil 
law to be obligatory except those given in 
some proceeding which the civil law recog- 
nises. To swear falsely before a court in- 
competent to administer an oath is not perjury. 
(2 Caines, 91.) 

12. Evidence of good character is inadmissi- 
ble when the general character for veracity has 
not been impeached, even if an attempt is made 
to prove facts inconsistent with the statements 
of the witness. 



122 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V 

13. A witness may be impeached in two ways. 

a. By disproving the facts stated by him by 
the testimony of other witnesses. 

b. By general evidence affecting his credit 
for veracity. 

In impeaching the testimony of a witness in 
the second mode, particular facts should not be 
permitted to be stated ; but only such testimony 
should be admitted as relates to the general rep- 
utation of the witness for truth and veracity. 

The general character of a member of our 
Church for veracity cannot be impeached ; but 
the facts stated by him may be disproved by the 
testimony of other witnesses. 

Section IX. — Depositions. 

1. It is advisable, in all cases where it can be 
done, to produce all material witnesses at the 
trial. But as no ecclesiastical judicatory can 
compel the presence of any witness, it fre- 
quently becomes necessary to take depositions. 

2. When a deposition is to be taken, a verbal 
or written notice must be served on the adverse 
party, stating the hour and place of taking the 
same, and be delivered to the party in person, or 
left at his usual place of residence. A notice 



Sec. IX.] DEPOSITIONS. 123 

left at a post-office is not sufficient, if it was not 
received by the party. What time is a reason- 
able notice to the adverse party, in taking depo- 
sitions, is not fixed by the Discipline, but is a 
question of law which the presiding officer must 
decide ; ordinarily a week, at least, should be 
allowed. 

3. Form of notice : — 

To A. B. Whereas 0. D. has requested me 
to take the deposition of E. F., of Gr., to be used 
in the examination of the charges and specifica- 
tions preferred against you by 0. D., I do, 
therefore, appoint the second day of June, 18 — , 
at one o'clock P. M., at the house of the said 
E. F., as the time and place for the said person 
to testify what he knows relative to matters con- 
tained in the said charges and specifications. 
And you are hereby notified, that you may then 
and there be present, and put such interroga- 
tories as you may judge fit. Yours, &c, 

H. K, Pastor. 

L , May 20, 18—. 



4. Form of deposition : — 

I, E. F., of G., testify and say that 



After the direct testimony of the deponent is 



124 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

written, the party taking the deposition is al- 
lowed, first, to examine him on all the points 
which he deems material ; and then the adverse 
party may examine him in the same way. 
After which either party may propose such 
other interrogatories as the case may re- 
quire. 

If the accused objects to the admission of the 
person to testify in the case, this should be 
written down, stating the nature of the ob- 
jection. 

If any question is objected to by either party, 
as being leading, or irrelevant, or hearsay, or 
relating to matters of opinion, this should be 
noted under the question, and previous to the 
writing of the answer. 

Ordinarily, great latitude should be allowed 
to the questions, if desired by either party ; nor 
is it advisable, usually, at this stage of the 
proceedings, to decide on the validity of the 
objections, unless in very clear cases. 

After the deposition is written, it should be 
read to the deponent, and signed by him. 
A note should be appended to every deposition, 
stating the reason of its being taken, and 
whether the adverse party was duly notified, 
and attended. 



Sec. IX.] DEPOSITIONS. 125 

5. Depositions should be sealed up by the 
preacher taking them, and remain sealed until 
opened by the proper authorities. 

6. Depositions should be rejected if it ap- 
pear that the opposite party was not notified 
to attend at the time and place appointed 
for taking the deposition, or that not a suffi- 
cient notice was given, or that he was noti- 
fied to attend at a time when he must neces- 
sarily be absent, or engaged in important busi- 
ness requiring his personal attention, and 
that this was known to the party giving the 
notice. 

7. When witnesses are present at the seat of 
the conference, but refuse to give evidence in 
open conference, the conference has a right to 
appoint a commission to take their testimony, 
the opposite party being notified to appear 
before such commission, and having the right 
to cross-examine the witnesses. In such cases 
the testimony is to be taken by a secretary 
appointed by the commission; and, when re- 
ported to the conference, it must be filed and 
carefully preserved by the secretary of that 
body. (Discipline.) 



126 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

8. When only a part of a deposition is desired 
to be used in a trial, the whole of it must be 
read. 

Section X. — Appeal. 

1. The privilege of appeal is allowed both to 
preachers and members by the constitution of 
our Church, under certain limitations. The 
General Conference "shall not do away the 
privileges of our ministers and preachers of 
trial by a committee, and of an appeal : neither 
shall they do away the privileges of our mem- 
bers of trial before the society, or by a com- 
mittee, and of an appeal." It is required, 
however, in order that the appeal may be 
entertained, that the condemned .person signify 
his intention to appeal within a given time. 

2. The court appealed to, and not the court 
appealed from, is to judge whether or not the 
party has a right to appeal. As the right of 
appeal is not treated in the Restrictive Rules as 
a conditional right to be regulated by express 
enactments, great license should be given to 
this right. No appeal should be rejected un- 
less there are very manifest reasons for it. It 
has never been considered, however, that the 



Sec. X.] APPEAL. 127 

appellate court can exercise no discretion in any 
case of appeal, — that it must entertain every 
appeal that is made to it. 

3. If aji accused person evades a trial by 
absenting himself after sufficient notice has 
been given him, and the committee judge that 
the circumstances of the accusation afford strong 
presumption of guilt, he may be esteemed as 
guilty, and be accordingly excluded. And a 
person who absents himself from trial can claim 
no right to an appeal. But mere absence from 
the place of trial does not show that the accused 
person evaded a trial, by absenting himself, in 
the sense of the Discipline. He should be 
allowed to show to the quarterly conference 
that his absence from the trial was not de- 
signed, and a fault on his part. If a majority 
of the quarterly conference are convinced that 
he did not designedly evade a trial, the appeal 
should be entertained. 

4. No appeal of an excluded member can be 
entertained, unless it is brought before the next 
ensuing quarterly conference ; or of a local 
preacher, unless he signify to the quarterly 
conference his determination to appeal to the 



128 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

next annual conference ; or of a travelling 
preacher, unless he signify his intention to 
appeal to the ensuing General Conference, at 
the time of his condemnation, or at any subse- 
quent time when he is informed of it. 

5. A travelling preacher who has been sus- 
pended by an annual conference, and takes an 
appeal from their decision, forfeits his right to 
prosecute the appeal in the General Conference, 
provided that he declares himself withdrawn 
from the Church previous to the adjudication 
of his case. (See Eec. Gen. Con., 1848, p. 38.) 

6. ISTo appeal can be entertained when a 
charge of maladministration has been sustained 
against a travelling preacher, provided that the 
motives of the administrator are not impeached. 
But when any punishment has been awarded, 
such as censure, suspension, or expulsion, the 
appeal may be entertained. (See Proc. Gen. 
Con., 1840, May 16 and 27.) 

7. A quarterly conference cannot try an ap- 
peal when the testimony is not duly recorded. 
When accurate minutes have not been taken in 
the trial before the society, or a select number, 



Sec. X.] APPEAL. 129 

" the case," says Bishop Hedding, " should be 
referred back for a new trial, that those who 
did their work carelessly, at first, may have 
opportunity of doing it properly, and of being 
admonished to avoid such errors afterward." 

8. In case a local preacher appeals to the 
annual conference, and it is found that the 
minutes of the trial were not signed by the 
president of the quarterly conference, and by a 
majority of the members of the conference who 
were present, the appeal cannot be entertained. 
When the Discipline has been illegally adminis- 
tered, the case should be remanded to the tri- 
bunal holding original jurisdiction over the 
member, for a new trial. (Bishop Soule.) 

9. Mode of conducting appeals. 

a. A statement or communication from the ap- 
pellant, setting forth the reasons why he appeals. 

h. Beading the charges, specifications, and 
the findings of the ecclesiastical court. 

c. Voting to entertain or not entertain the 
appeal. 

d. If entertained, the reading of the records 
of the trial. If the records are defective, a 
bill of exceptions may here be filed in. If the 



130 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

exceptions are sustained, the case should be 
remanded for a new trial ; if not sustained, the 
case should proceed. 

e. The appellant, by himself or counsel, makes 
his defence. 

f. The delegates, if in General Conference, 
defend the action of their conference. 

ff. The appellant makes the closing speech. 
h. The appellant retires, and the conference 
decides the case. 

10. If an appeal is well taken, it does not 
place the case wholly within the jurisdiction 
of the appellate court to make such an award 
as it deems proper; but the appellate court 
must either affirm or reverse the decision of the 
court below, or remand the case for a new trial. 
(Bishops Janes and Baker.) 

11. In no case of appeal can new evidence 
be admitted. It must be restricted to the jour- 
nalized and documentary testimony taken and 
presented at the first trial. (Bee. Gen. Con., 
1848, p. 127.) If the appellant affirms that he 
has in his possession testimony which was not 
before the original court, and which, in his 
opinion, would exculpate him from one or more 



Sec. X.] APPEAL. 131 

charges on which he was expelled, the case may 
be remanded for a new trial. (See Eec. Gen. 
Con., 1840, p. 77.) 

12. After a member has been tried, expelled, 
and taken an appeal, and the quarterly confer- 
ence has affirmed the decision of the court 
below, a succeeding quarterly conference is not 
competent to reopen the case for adjudication, 
by granting another trial to the expelled mem- 
ber. The decision of the appellate court is 
final. (Bishop Hedding.) 

13. When the appellate court reverses the 
decision of the court below, the appellant is 
reinstated in his former membership, without 
any action of the court from which he took an 
appeal. 

14. If an excluded steward, exhorter, or class- 
leader, were restored to membership by the 
quarterly conference, such action would not 
restore them to their previous official relation. 
They are brought to trial as if they had sus- 
tained no official relation ; and a quarterly con- 
ference can restore no office which they are not 
originally empowered to give. 



132 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

15. When a decision on a point of law is 
made by a presiding elder in a quarterly con- 
ference; and action follows which affects the 
membership of a member of that conference, 
such action is final, provided that no appeal is 
taken to the president of the next annual con- 
ference. (Bishop Hamline.) 

16. Ko accused lav member can take an 
appeal until he is excluded from the Church, 
But when he is once expelled, the act of expul- 
sion stands until the decision is reversed, od 
appeal, by the quarterly conference. The per- 
son thus expelled, though he takes an appeal, 
cannot enjoy any privileges of society until the 
decision of the appellate court. And if the 
quarterly report be read before the appeal is 
tried, and the decision reversed, the preacher in 
charge is bound to read him out among those 
excluded from the Church according to Disci- 
pline. If the decision is reversed by the quar- 
terly conference, the preacher in charge should 
announce before the society that the person is 
restored to membership by the act of the quar- 
terly conference. (Bishop Moms.) 

17. When an appeal is taken from the decision 






Sec. XL] NEW TRIAL. 133 

of an ecclesiastical court, that fact should 
be entered upon the records of the trial ; and 
the presiding officer is bound to present such 
records, and all the documents relating to the 
case, to the appellate court, When a travelling 
preacher, however, has been tried and taken an 
appeal, it is the duty of the secretary of the an- 
nual conference to preserve the minutes of the 
trial, and all the documents relating to it, and 
transmit them, at the proper time, to the Gen- 
eral Conference. 

18. When an appellant does not appear per- 
sonally, or by a representative, to prosecute his 
appeal, it goes by default. (Bishop Ames.) 

19. If in the examination of an appeal the 
presiding elder discover that the trial below 
was informally conducted, he has no authority 
to throw out the case, prevent the decision of 
the conference, and declare the person not ex- 
pelled. The appeal is not to the presiding 
elder, but to the quarterly conference. 

Section XL — New Trial. 

1. It is not in accordance with our usages 
for a presiding officer to order, under any 



134 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

circumstances, a new trial; but an appellate 
court may remand an appeal case for a new 
trial. 

2. If the preacher in charge differs in judg- 
ment from the majority of the society, or the 
select number, concerning the guilt of an ac- 
cused member, the trial may be referred, by 
the preacher in charge, to the ensuing quarterly 
conference. But this reference of the trial does 
not place the case before the quarterly confer- 
ence for adjudication ; it is simply a petition for 
a new trial, and the quarterly conference may 
grant or reject it according to their best judg- 
ment. (Eec. Gen. Con., 1848, p. 127.) 

3. When the case is remanded for a new trial, 
it should proceed as if no trial had previously 
been held. There must be a new presentation 
of charges and specifications, a new notifying 
of the party, taking depositions, hearing of 
witnesses, and rendering of verdict. Any of 
the original charges and specifications may be 
withdrawn, and new charges and specifications 
may be added. New evidence may be pro- 
duced. 

It would be a flagrant proceeding for the 



Sec. XII.] LOCAL PREACHERS. 135 

adjudicating body, when a case is remanded for 
a new trial, to reexpel a member on a verdict of 
guilt, rendered at a previous trial, without a 
new hearing of testimony. (Bishop Hedding.) 

4. In the following cases it would be highly 
proper for the appellate court to grant a new 
trial. 

a. When the minutes of the trial are so im- 
perfect that the true merits of the case cannot 
be learned from them. 

h. In case of maladministration, or incorrect 
ruling of the presiding officer. 

c. When there have been any improprieties 
in the select committee, such as determining 
their verdict by casting lots, or by basing it 
upon documents which were sent to them, but 
were not read in the trial. 

d. When new and material evidence has 
been discovered. A new trial should not be 
granted for mere cumulative evidence. 

Section XII. — Trial of Local Preachers. 

1. A local preacher, deacon, or elder, should 
be held amenable to the quarterly conference 
for the faithful performance of the functions of 
his office ; and in case of manifest neglect of 



136 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

duty, should be treated the same as in eases of 
improper tempers, words, and actions. The 
person thus offending should be reprehended 
by his senior in office; and should he fail to 
reform, one, two, or three faithful friends should 
be taken as witnesses, If he still persists in his 
neglect of duty, the quarterly conference may 
proceed to try him, and depriye him of his 
ministerial office, 

2, When a local elder, deacon, or preacher is 
reported to be guilty of some crime expressly 
forbidden in the word of God, it is made the 
duty of the preacher in charge to call him 
before a committee of local preachers, by whom 
he shall be acquitted, or, if found guilty, sus- 
pended until the next quarterly conference. 
" It requires the preacher in charge," says 
Bishop Morris, "to proceed on mere report, 
whether there be any formal charges or not ; to 
call a committee, which is of the nature of a 
court of inquiry, to ascertain whether or not 
there be cause of trial ; and if so, it must go to 
the quarterly conference, the only tribunal that 
has authority to try the case. And in all prac- 
ticable cases the preacher in charge should 
inquire into complaints against local preachers, 



Sec. XII.] LOCAL PREACHERS. 137 

by a committee, before they come into quarterly 
conference, or be held responsible for this neg- 
lect of duty. But if he neglect it, or fail to 
obtain a committee, or fail for want of time, 
that neglect or failure does not deprive the 
quarterly conference of its legal authority to try 
a local preacher on charges of immorality." 

3. Bishop Hedding remarks: "Great care 
should be taken to appoint a wise, prudent, and 
impartial committee, consisting, if practicable, 
of more than three. All suitable means should 
be employed to have a thorough and fair inves- 
tigation. And as the final trial of a local 
preacher is by a body of men most of whom 
are usually laymen, it is desirable that this 
committee should be composed of as many as 



4. The committee of local preachers may be 
called from any circuit or district in the con- 
ference. The rule of 1796 required that the 
local preachers in the neighbourhood should be 
called to constitute this committee. In 1820 
they were required to belong to the circuit or 
district. In 1836 all restrictions in this respect 
were taken away. 



138 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

5. The mode of conducting an investigating 
committee, in the case of an accused local 
preacher, is similar to that of the trial of a 
member, before described, page 105. The 
preacher in charge must preside, and cause 
exact minutes of the charges, specifications, 
testimony, and examination to be taken ; and if 
the accused is found guilty, these, together with 
the decision of the committee, must be laid by 
him before the quarterly conference. 

6. The acquittal or suspension of a local 
preacher, in the primary examination, is by the 
committee, and not by the preacher in charge. 

7. The examination before a committee is not 
a trial proper on the merits of the case; and 
hence, if a local preacher is acquitted by the 
committee, charges and specifications, founded 
upon the same reports, may be preferred against 
him at the quarterly conference, and he be ex- 
pelled, if they judge him guilty of crime. 

8. The mode of conducting the trial of a local 
preacher is the same as that above described. 
The president must appoint a secretary to take 
regular minutes of the evidence of the trial; 






Seo. XII.] LOCAL PREACHERS. 139 

" which minutes, when read and approved, shall 
be signed by the president, and also by the 
members of the conference who are present, or 
by a majority of them," 

9. The quarterly conference holds original 
jurisdiction over local preachers, and hence 
its decision will not be governed by the primary 
investigation. Testimony may, in first examin- 
ations, have been rejected which the president 
of the quarterly conference judges to be admis- 
sible ; and testimony may have been admitted 
which should be rejected. Any additional tes- 
timony which either party may have obtained 
may be presented. 

10. If the accused refuse or neglect to appear, 
either before the investigating committee or the 
quarterly conference, he may be tried in his 
absence. 

11. The quarterly conference alone awards 
punishment in the trial of local preachers. Sus- 
pension by the investigating committee is not a 
penalty judicially awarded, but a public arrest 
of character until the case can be examined 
before the proper tribunal. The president 



140 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

cannot expel a local preacher; be merely an- 
nounces the decision of the quarterly con- 
ference, 

12. If a local preacher has been expelled, 
and taken an appeal to the annual conference, 
a subsequent quarterly conference cannot re- 
consider their action, and restore the local 
preacher. If a subsequent quarterly confer- 
ence could reconsider the act of a former session, 
and restore one whom they had expelled, for 
the same reason they might reconsider and con- 
demn a man whom they had previously acquit- 
ted. And if they could reconsider the act of 
the last quarterly conference, they might re- 
consider an act passed years before. (Bishop 
Hedding.) 

13. When a local preacher has been brought 
to trial before a quarterly conference, and the 
evidence has been taken, and the pleadings 
closed, it is not lawful for the conference to 
adjourn, and leave the decision of the case to 
the next quarterly conference. 

14. A quarterly conference has no author- 
ity to alter the language of any charge or 



Sec. XII.] LOCAL PREACHERS. 141 

specification after the pleadings are ended, and 
the parties have retired. 

15. When the property of a local preacher 
has accumulated so rapidly as to cause some to 
suspect that he is not acquiring it honestly, the 
quarterly conference, of which he is a member, 
has no authority to demand of him a statement 
of the amount of his property, and of the manner 
in which it has been acquired. If he is sus- 
pected of dishonesty, he may be arraigned ; but 
the accuser must produce testimony to sustain 
the charge. No man can be compelled to wit- 
ness against himself. (Kef. Bishop Soule.) 

16. When the matters involved in a bill of 
charges, presented against a member, local or 
travelling preacher, in whole or any material 
part, are pending before a civil or criminal 
court, it is frequently advisable to lay the case 
over until the trial is decided by the legal 
tribunal. Equity seems to demand it. If in 
this case the local preacher has been suspended 
by a committee, and the case is brought before 
the ensuing quarterly conference for trial, — if 
the conference believe that the charges can- 
not be fully investigated until after the suits 



142 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V 

pending before the civil tribunals are terminated, 
—they are competent to adjourn the case until 
after such trial. The results, however, of a 
criminal prosecution ought not to exert any in- 
fluence on the results of the ecclesiastical inves- 
tigation. Equity and the honour of the Church 
might demand the conviction and expulsion of 
the person vrhom the civil law had cleared. 

17. The fact that a member of a quarterly 
conference has been employed as counsel in a 
civil suit against a local preacher does not dis- 
qualify him from acting and voting as a mem- 
ber of the quarterly conference, in the trial of 
the local preacher on charges involving the 
material facts pending in the civil court. Every 
member of a quarterly conference, except while 
he himself is being tried, may exercise every 
right, and perform every act appertaining to his 
office, as member of the quarterly conference, 
if it has no respect to his own personal interests. 

18. When charges are preferred against a 
preacher on trial, the presiding elder has a right 
to decide under which question of section 3, 
chapter ix, part i, of the Discipline the case 
shall be tried. 



Sec. XIIL] TRAVELLING PREACHERS. 143 

Section XIIL — Trial of Travelling Preachers. 

1. The nature of the investigation of an ac- 
cused travelling preacher, by a committee, in 
the interval of an annual conference is the 
same as that of a local preacher, above described. 
It is strictly preliminary in its character. The 
committee can merely suspend from ministerial 
services and Church privileges until the ensuing 
annual conference. 

2. Bishop M'Kendree remarks: "The great 
object of committees is to attend to complaints, 
or charges, in the intervals of conferences, and 
thereby secure the character of innocent breth- 
ren, wrongfully accused, from reproach and 
injury; or by suspending [such as are adjudged 
guilty] until the ensuing conference. The 
suspending power is clearly restricted to such 
crimes as are expressly forbidden in the word 
of God, and such as are persisted in after 
gospel reproof and admonition have been given. 
And it may be further remarked, that neithei 
the organization of a committee, nor any of their 
acts, can abridge the powers of a conference, 
when they afterward come to sit on the same 
case. And should a case occur at or during 



Hi CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

the sitting of a conference, or, although known 
of, be neglected ; or if it should be of such re- 
cent date as not to afford time to call a com- 
mittee, and should then be brought before the 
conference, there is nothing in the Discipline, or 
reason, to prevent the conference from hearing 
and deciding thereon, without the intervention 
of a committee ; and especially if the person ac- 
cused desire it. But as the conference has the 
entire control of all cases in which its own mem- 
bers are concerned, subject to the order of Dis- 
cipline, they may, or they may not, appoint a 
committee, as they may judge proper; but they 
cannot, in any case, transfer their authority as 
a conference." 

The Restrictive Rules provide that ministers 
or preachers shall have the privilege "of trial 
by a committee." This implies that preachers 
shall not be suspended in the interval of confer- 
ence, as they formerly were, without the inves- 
tigation and action of a committee ; but it was 
not intended to abridge the powers of an annual 
conference, — it has original jurisdiction over its 
members. 

3. If the charge be preferred at the confer- 
ence, the case may be referred to a committee, 



Sec. XIII. j TRAVELLING PREACHERS. 145 

in the presence of a presiding elder, or a mem- 
ber, appointed by the bishop in his stead. In 
this latter case, the person so appointed possesses 
all the powers of a presiding elder in an investi- 
gating committee. 

4. An annual conference has a right, when 
charges are preferred against one of its number, 
and the case cannot be tried during its session, 
for want of testimony, to refer it to the presiding 
elder who may have charge of him, under the 
rule for the trial of immoral ministers, in the 
interval of an annual conference. When cases 
are thus referred, the committee possess no more 
authority than when they are called, in the in- 
terval of conference, by the presiding elder, 
They can only suspend ; and the ensuing annual 
conference must determine the case. If a spe- 
cific charge only is referred, the committee must 
restrict their examination to that particular 
point ; but if the case of a preacher is referred, 
the committee may examine any charge which 
may be preferred against him. 

5. The acquittal of an accused travelling 
preacher by the investigating committee, as in 
the case of a local preacher, does not prevent 

10 



14:6 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

the same charges being preferred, and a trial 
held before the annual conference, to which he 
is originally amenable. 

6. If the preacher is found guilty by the 
committee, he must be suspended by them, 
and not by the presiding elder. The peni- 
tence of the convicted cannot prevent sus- 
pension. 

7. If a committee is appointed to investigate 
the case of an accused preacher, and report to 
the next conference, if the conference is divided, 
and the committee fall into different conferences, 
their powers remain the same until their report 
is heard and accepted. 

8. When a presiding elder is called to preside 
at the investigation of an accused presiding 
elder, he possesses the same powers as when 
investigating the case of an accused travelling 
preacher on his district. He may appoint the 
committee, and the time and place of holding 
the investigation. The committee should be 
called from the district of the accused presiding 
elder, unless special reasons exist why it should 
not be done. 



Sec. XIIL] TRAVELLING PREACHERS. 147 

9. A presiding elder may appoint the place 
for the investigation of the case of an accused 
travelling preacher beyond the limits of his 
district, when, in his judgment, the circum- 
stances demand it. 

10. A presiding elder cannot call a travelling 
preacher before an investigating committee, ex- 
cept (1) when he " is under report of being 
guilty of some crime expressly forbidden in the 
word of God as an unchristian practice, suffi- 
cient to exclude a person from the kingdom of 
grace and glory;" or (2) when he "holds and 
disseminates doctrines which are contrary to our 
Articles of Religion," and will not " solemnly 
engage not to disseminate such erroneous doc- 
trines, in public or in private ;" or (3) when he 
ceases to travel without the consent of the annual 
conference. Complaints of maladministration 
must go primarily before the annual conference. 
The presiding elder can only remove such from 
the charge who do not administer discipline 
correctly. 

11. The form of trial, in the case of a local or 
travelling preacher, is the same as that of a 
member, (see page 105,) except in the mode of 



148 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

rendering the verdict. The quarterly and an- 
nual conferences vote first upon the question 
whether the several specifications, in order, 
under each charge, are sustained, and then 
upon the charge, without bringing in a written 
verdict. 

12. If an accused travelling preacher does 
not appear, either before the committee or the 
annual conference, the same formality should be 
observed in his trial as if he were present. 
Competent counsel should be appointed to con- 
duct his case, and accurate minutes should be 
kept. 

13. When a preacher has been tried in an 
annual conference, and suspended for one year, 
the conference cannot at the expiration of that 
time expel him for the same offence, or continue 
the suspension for another period. When a 
member has suffered the punishment which was 
adjudged by the conference, at the time of his 
trial, he is deemed clear by the law. (Bishop 
Hedding.) 

14. A preacher under suspension by a com- 
mittee, called by a presiding elder, has no right 



Sec. XIIL] TRAVELLING PREACHERS. 149 

to vote on any question, at the ensuing annual 
conference, previously to the examination of his 
case. His suspension, being in accordance with 
the provisions of the Discipline, continues until 
it is removed by the conference. 

15. "When a travelling preacher is accused of 
being so unacceptable, inefficient, or secular, as 
to be no longer useful in his work, there must 
be the same formality of trial, — specifications, 
witnesses, record of testimony, &c, — as in the 
case of immorality. A charge of unacceptability 
can be tried at an annual conference in the ab- 
sence of the accused preacher, even when no 
previous notice has been given. It is a specific 
rule of discipline that every travelling preacher 
shall undergo an annual examination of charac- 
ter ; and it is expected that every member will 
be present at the session of the conference. In 
case of location without consent, as well as expul- 
sion, the aggrieved party is allowed an appeal to 
the General Conference. But it cannot be too 
strongly urged, that in all cases where the 
character of a brother is to be arrested, or his 
relation changed in the ministry, due notice 
should be previously given, and efforts made to 
remove the embarrassments. 



150 CHURCH TRIALS. LChap. V, 

16. The secretary of an annual conference 
must carefully take all the testimony given in 
the annual conference ; but documentary testi- 
mony need not be spread upon the journals of 
the conference, but must be properly filed and 
preserved. In case of trial, a copy of the 
charges, specifications, and the final action of 
the conference, should be entered on the princi- 
pal Conference Journal, and such references 
made to all the testimony and documents used 
in the trial, that they may be readily found and 
clearly identified. 

Section XIV. — Church Offences. 

1. In every Church trial it should be definitely 
stated under what rule of discipline the case is 
to be tried. 

2. All actionable offences may be brought 
under one of the following rules : — 

a. A crime expressly forbidden by the word 
of God, sufficient to exclude a person from the 
kingdom of grace and glory. 

h. Neglect of duties; imprudent conduct; 
indulging sinful words, tempers, or actions ; the 
buying, selling, or using of intoxicating liquors 



Sec. XIV.] CHURCH OFFENCES. 151 

as a beverage, or disobedience to the order and 
discipline of the Church. 

e. Endeavouring to sow dissensions in our 
societies by inveighing against either our doc- 
trines or discipline. 

d. Behaving dishonestly in business transac- 
tions, or contracting debts without a probability 
of paying them. 

e. Refusing to abide by the judgment of a 
second arbitration ; refusing to refer to arbitra- 
tion disputed pecuniary questions, when recom- 
mended by the preacher in charge; entering 
into law-suits with another member, against the 
provisions of the Discipline ; refusing to make 
payment of debt according to decision of com- 
mittee. 

3. If the offence belong to the first class, no 
Church labour is necessary before the presenta- 
tion of the charge : in all other cases specific 
preliminary steps must be taken. 

4. If a preacher holds and disseminates doc- 
trines contrary to our Articles of Religion, and 
persists therein, he may be suspended by a 
committee, and tried at the annual conference. 
Jf liis error, however, is a mere matter of 



152 CHURCH TR'IALS. [Chap. V, 

opinion, not embraced in our Articles of Religion, 
he may be borne with in the interval of confer- 
ence, and his case brought before the annual 
conference. 

The twenty-five Articles of Religion do not 
embrace all that is included in " our present 
existing and established standards of doctrine." 
Many of the characteristic doctrines of our 
Church are not even referred to directly in those 
articles. Many of our leading articles of relig- 
ion are expressed in a negative form, and have 
special reference to the errors of the Papal 
Church. Bishop Burnet remarks, that since 
" the Church of Rome owns all that is positive 
in our doctrine, there could be no discrimination 
made but by condemning the most important 
additions which they have brought into the 
Christian religion in express words." The Dis- 
cipline does not expressly state what are our 
" established standards of doctrine ;" but usage 
and general consent would probably designate 
Mr. Wesley's Sermons, and his Notes on the 
New Testament, and "Watson's Theological In- 
stitutes. 

5. The rule respecting members of our Church 
inveighing against our doctrines and discipline 






Sec- CHURCH OFFENCES. 153 

is not to be understood in the sense that they 
must be brought before a committee, and found 
guilty of this offence, before they can even be 
reproved by the senior minister of the circuit. 
The reproof is to be given, not as a judicial act 
by the adjudicating body, but simply as the act 
of the pastor, in the faithful discharge of the 
duties of the pastorate, and to be performed by 
him when he is clearly convinced that the ac- 
cused has really endeavoured to sow dissensions 
in the Church. If the member " persists in 
such pernicious practices " after reproof is thus 
administered, he should be brought to trial on a 
complaint setting forth the nature of his offence. 

6. A distinction is to be made between the 
character of the act which removes a member 
from the Church who has committed a crime, 
and that which removes one who habitually and 
wilfully neglects to meet his class. The one, 
after a due process, is to be expelled / the other 
is to be laid aside. "Excommunication," says 
Mr. Punchard, "differs from the act of with- 
drawing fellowship in this: excommunication 
implies a forfeiture of Christian standing ; with- 
drawing fellowship implies a forfeiture of Church 
standing only." " The term of the rule," says 



154 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

Mr. Miley, " which expresses the penalty for 
non-attendance of class is exclusion, and not 
expulsion. This shows sufficiently that this 
offence is not classed with immoralities, where 
it would be classed if this institution were placed 
upon the footing of a divine ordinance." When 
a member is laid aside for a wilful neglect of 
class-meeting, the preacher must "show that 
he is excluded for a breach of our rules, and 
not for immoral conduct." 

7. When a charge of slander is preferred by 
one member against another, it is lawful for the 
accused to prove the truth of his statements as 
a ground of justification. 



8. But when a member is accused of uttering 
sinful words in reference to a member, it is not 
lawful to attempt to prove their truthfulness. 



9. No charges for slander can be received 
except from the person alleged to be slandered, 
or from his representative ; but charges involv- 
ing defamation of character received from other 
persons must be for evil-speaking, and the truth 
of such declarations cannot be given in evidence, 
as it would involve an absent person. 



See. XV.] PENALTY. 155 

Section XV. — Penalty. 

1. The design of Church penalty is to operate 
as a motive upon the members to observe cor- 
rect moral conduct, and to declare the purity of 
the Church by her efforts to maintain correct 
principles. To secure these objects it is not so 
necessary that the punishment should be severe 
as that it should be certain. It is impossible to 
graduate the punishment according to the true 
demerit of the offence, and hence as mild meas- 
ures should be pursued as possible, and yet show 
that the Church does not connive at sin, and 
seek to conceal corruption rather than to purge 
it away. 

2. The following awards should be given, ac- 
cording to different circumstances : — 

a. A declaration of the guilt of the accused, 
while forgiveness is extended to the penitent. 
i. Censure, or reproof. 

c. Suspension. 

d. Expulsion. 

3. Forgiveness. The Church is competent to 
forgive an offender, when the ends of moral 
discipline can be promoted by it. Bishop 



156 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

Hedding remarks : " It is asked, Must he expel 
in all cases ? Is there no room for pardon ? For 
scandalous crimes expulsion should undoubtedly 
take place ; but for crimes of a moderate degree, 
and when the offender is suitably humble and 
penitent, forgiveness and forbearance should be 
exercised, and a repentant brother may be 
retained in the Church. i Brethren, if any man 
be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual 
restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.' 
Gal. vi, 1. That the rule is to be so understood 
is evident from a clause in the General Kules, 
thirty-sixth page : ' If there be any among us 
who observe them not, who habitually break 
any of them, let it be known unto them who 
watch over that soul as they who must give 
an account. We will bear with him for a sea- 
son, but if then he repent not, he hath no more 
place among us ; we have delivered our souls.' " — 
Dis. on Discipline, pp. 66, 67. "In exercising 
mercy, in this case, the preacher will need great 
prudence to avoid doing it in a way to grieve 
and afflict the members, or cast a stumbling- 
block before the world. On this question he 
should take counsel with the select number, or 
the leaders' meeting, or in some cases with the 
society in the place, that it may be understood 



Sec. XV.] PENALTY. 157 

that the offender is restored by general con- 
sent." — Dis. on Discipline, pp. 68, 69. 

Bishop M'Kendree remarks : " When a person 
is clearly convicted of such a crime or crimes, 
(such as are expressly forbidden in the word of 
God,) nothing short of expulsion will satisfy the 
rule, unless there be such a manifestation of 
genuine repentance and humiliation as will fully 
justify the restoration of the offending person: 
in such a case the connexion between crime and 
its punishment is dissolved. Such cases may 
possibly occur, and when they do, much care 
and prudence are necessary to guard the Church 
from reproach and injury, and at the same time 
to save the offender." 

4. That the Discipline contemplates that cen- 
sure and suspension may be inflicted as a Church 
penalty upon disorderly members, as well as 
upon convicted local and travelling preachers, 
is evident from various considerations. The 
heading of the section respecting disorderly 
members has been, since its first introduction 
into the Discipline in 1789, " Of bringing to 
trial, finding guilty, reproving, suspending, or 
excluding disorderly persons," &c. The section 
relating to the "sale and use of spirituous 



158 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

liquors," which formed a part of the Discipline 
from 1796 to 1840, provided that an accused 
person should " be cleared, censured, suspended, 
or excluded, according to his conduct, as on 
other charges of immorality." 

5. No member can be suspended for a partic- 
ular offence without a regular trial according to 
Discipline ; and no preacher can be suspended 
by an annual conference beyond the period of 
one year. 

6. When a bill of charges is correctly drawn, 
the penalty must be based upon the charges 
which are sustained against the accused. No 
member can be punished for any higher 
offence than is charged against him in the 
bill; but punishment may be awarded for 
any lower offence, of which he is convicted, in 
the specifications which are sustained against 
him. 

7. " It has been asked," remarks Bishop Hed- 
ding, " Has a preacher a right to keep members 
of the Church, who have not been tried or cen- 
sured, out of love-feast, or to repel them from 
the Lord's supper, for any little irregularity in 



Sec. X V.J PENALTY. 159 

dress, or otherwise, which he may perceive in 
them at any time ? No ; in ordinary cases he 
has no such right : he may not punish members 
except as the law directs. Yet there may be ex- 
traordinary cases which might admit of this 
measure, from his authority as a minister, with- 
out any direct rule. For example : a member 
is known to have committed a scandalous crime, 
and there has not been time to call him to trial 
in the regular way. He comes to love-feast, or 
to the holy sacrament; in these circumstances 
the minister may repel him." — Dis. on Disci- 
pline, p. 72. 

8. When a preacher is judged guilty of mal- 
administration by an annual conference, censure 
and reproof are the highest penalty which they 
can inflict. 

9. "When a member or preacher has been ex- 
pelled, according to due form of Discipline, he 
cannot afterward enjoy the privileges of society 
and of sacraments, in our Church, without con- 
trition, confession, and satisfactory reformation; 
but if, however, the society become convinced 
of the innocence of the expelled member, he 
may again be received on trial without confession. 



160 OH UK OH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

No expelled member can be received again into 
full membership without a subsequent probation. 

10. When an annual conference decides that 
a preacher having charge has expelled a member 
contrary to the provisions of the Discipline, 
such decision restores the person so expelled to 
Church-membership. The conference must de- 
cide within what time the alleged maladminis- 
tration must have taken place, to bring it prop- 
erly before them. (Eec. Gen. Con. 1852, p. 73.) 

11. If the society or select number render a 
verdict of guilty, it is not optional with the 
preacher whether he will expel him: as an 
administrator of the Discipline, he must pro- 
nounce the penalty of the law. The Discipline 
says, "Let the minister or preacher who has 
the charge of the circuit expel him." An ex- 
ception, however, should be made in those cases 
where, in view of peculiar palliating circum- 
stances, or the deep penitence of the accused, 
the committee or society recommend that he be 
still further borne with. 

12. The practice of requiring a public per- 
sonal confession before the Church, or threaten 



Sec. XV.] PENALTY. 161 

expulsion if it is not made, is of doubtful expe- 
diency. If the accused is really penitent, this 
can be ascertained in some other mode. The 
Church, when not under the peculiar sympathy 
which the presence of the offender might pro- 
duce, are better prepared to decide whether the 
concessions and acknowledgments of the accused 
are sufficient to secure the honour of the Church 
if expulsion is not inflicted. Many persons, 
especially under the mortification of the alleged 
offence, are wholly incapable of making an 
appropriate statement to the Church in person. 

13. It is made the duty of the " official min- 
ister or preacher," at every quarterly meeting, 
to read the names of those who have been 
excluded from the Church during the preceding 
quarter; but the Discipline does not contem- 
plate that their crimes — the grounds of Church 
action — -shall be publicly announced, nor that 
any unusual publicity should be given to the 
fact of expulsion. When any member is laid aside 
for a breach of our rules merely, and not for 
immoral or improper conduct, this fact must be 
definitely stated in connexion with the report of 
expulsion. When persons are thus read out of 
the society by the official minister, in the hearing 
11 



162 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

of those who have an interest in the com- 
munication, and a right to know the action of 
the Church, it is not legal defamation of char 
acter, nor prima facie evidence of malice. 

14. When a member is found guilty of im- 
prudent conduct, and required to make con- 
fession, and refuses to comply, the preacher 
cannot expel him without a further trial be- 
fore a committee, showing that he does not 
comply. 

Section XVI. — Arbitration. 

1. In 1781 it was made the duty of the assist- 
ant, at the quarterly meeting, to consult with 
the steward in appointing proper persons to ex- 
amine into the circumstances where there was a 
dispute respecting pecuniary matters ; and if 
there was suspicion of injustice, or inability, in 
the referees, to appoint men of more skill and 
probity : and the parties were then required to 
abide by their decision, or be excluded from the 
society;. 

In 1784 the Discipline required the assistant 
to consult with the stewards and leaders, and 
appoint referees, whose decision was final ; 
and the party refusing to abide by it was to be 



Sec. XVI.] ARBITRATION. 163 

expelled, unless there appeared to the assistant 
some fraud or gross mistake in the decision ; in 
which case he was to appoint new referees for a 
rehearing of the case, and the decision of this 
tribunal was to be absolutely final. In 1789 
the referees were appointed by the parties, ac- 
cording to our present mode. 

2. Under our present rule, the authority of 
the preacher is greatly diminished ; yet he has 
discretionary power in several particulars. 

a. Whether the circumstances require any 
action. The rule does not oblige him to recom- 
mend arbitration, unless he judges that the 
case is such as strictly to demand such investi- 
gation. 

h. If proceedings should be commenced, un- 
der what rule of discipline the action should be 
brought, — whether it is an immorality, an in- 
discretion, or a dispute respecting the payment 
of debts, &c. (Bishop Morris.) 

3. The phrase, " payment of debts or other- 
wise" is to be restricted entirely to pecuniary 
matters. But it embraces them in all their 
forms, whether relating to real or personal 
estate, debts, demands, accounts, or contracts. 



164 CHUECH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

4. The arbiters to whom the case is referred 
must be members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church ; but as the arbitration does not assume 
the form of a trial, it is not necessary that the 
arbiters should belong to the society with which 
either of the parties is connected. 

5. The preacher in charge should preside at 
the arbitration, when both of the parties belong 
to the same society. If they belong to different 
societies, Christian and ministerial etiquette 
would seem to require that the senior preacher 
should preside. 

6. Order of conducting an arbitration. 
a. Religious services. 

5. Appointment of secretary by the referees. 

c. The complainant makes his statement, in 
troducing such testimony as he deems proper. 

d. The defendant makes his answer, and in- 
troduces his testimony. 

e. Rebutting testimony by the complainant. 

f. Rebutting testimony by the defendant. 

g. Closing arguments, — 
(1.) By the complainant. 
(2.) By the defendant. 

h. The parties should then retire, and the 



Sec. XVI.] ARBITRATION. 165 

decision should be written and signed by the 
referees. 

7. When the parties reside on different cir- 
cuits, if one party is dissatisfied with the decis- 
ion of the arbiters, and desires a second arbitra- 
tion, he must apply to the quarterly conference 
where the other party resides; for they only 
can compel such party to arbitrate. 

8. The rule does not require our members to 
arbitrate when the other party is not a member 
of our Church. 

9. When a dispute respecting pecuniary mat- 
ters arises between a member of our Church and 
a firm or corporation, to which one or more 
members of our Church belongs, the rule re- 
specting arbitration does not apply; for the 
corporation, as such, is not und^r the control of 
the Church. For any unjustifiable business 
transaction, performed by the member, or by 
the firm, which the member could have con- 
trolled, he should be held strictly accountable. 

10. When a request is made to the quarterly 
conference for a second arbitration, the presiding 



166 CHURCH TRIALS. [Chap. V, 

elder has no authority to rule out the applica- 
tion, but should allow it to go to the quarterly 
conference. (Bishop Morris.) 

11. When a member refuses to arbitrate when 
recommended to do so by the preacher in charge, 
he renders himself liable to expulsion from the 
Church; but in this, as in all other cases, he 
cannot be expelled until the society or select 
number, in due form, declare that he refuses to 
arbitrate, or has violated some express rule of 
Church covenant. 

12. If, after a second arbitration, a party re- 
fuses to abide by their decision, he may be 
brought to trial by regular charge and specifica- 
tion, and expelled from the Church. 

13. If a preacher or member shall enter into 
a lawsuit with another member before the mat- 
ter is submitted to arbitration, he does so on his 
own responsibility; and, if arrested, must show 
that the case was of such a nature as to require 
and justify a process at law. 

14. The inspecting of the accounts of those 
who "fail in business," and the calling of a 



Sec. XVL] ARBITRATION. 167 

debtor before a committee, " to show cause why 
he does not make payment," and all the cases re- 
ferred to on pages 101, 102, of the Discipline, 
are not Church trials ; and a member cannot be 
expelled merely on those examinations, what- 
ever fraud and dishonesty those examinations 
may disclose. But if these examinations should 
disclose frauds, a bill of charges should be 
formed from them, and the accused brought to 
trial, in due form, before the society or the 
select committee. 



168 CHURCH PROPERTY. [Chap. VI, 



CHAPTER VI. 

CHURCH PROPERTY. 

Section I.— Building Churches and Parsonages. 

1. The Discipline expressly discountenances 
the incurring of heavy liabilities in the erection 
of churches and parsonages. Hence it is made 
the duty of the quarterly conference, where it is 
contemplated to build a house of worship, to 
secure the lot on which such house is to be 
erected, according to our deed of settlement; 
and also "to appoint a judicious committee of, 
at least, three members of our Church, to form 
an estimate of the amount necessary to build; 
and three-fourths of the money, according to 
such estimate, must be secured, or subscribed, 
before any such building shall be commenced." 
" In all cases where debts for building houses of 
worship have been, or may be, incurred contrary 
to, or in disregard of, the above recommendation, 
our members and friends are requested to dis- 
countenance, by declining pecuniary aid to all 
agents who travel beyond their own circuits or 



See. I.] CHUKCHES AND PARSONAGES, 169 

districts, for the collection of funds for the dis- 
charge of such debts, except in such peculiar 
cases as may be approved by an annual confer- 
ence, or such agents as may be appointed by 
their authority," 

2. When a number of persons have associated 
themselves together, in pursuance of the statute, 
for the purpose of erecting a meeting-house, 
and appointed three or more of their number a 
building committee, to superintend the erection 
of the house, the mere acceptance of the appoint- 
ment does not amount to a personal undertaking, 
on the part of the committee, to build the house ; 
but the only effect is to constitute them the 
agents and representatives of the association, to 
act upon joint consideration and advice, with 
power to make all necessary contracts, and 
authorize all such expenditures as the purposes 
of the agency require. 

And if the building committee were the 
agents of an unincorporated body, and in making 
their contracts they should not pledge their indi- 
vidual credit and responsibility, they would not 
be held under a personal obligation, if at the 
time of the contract the nature of their agency 
was definitely known. 



170 CHURCH PROPERTY, [.Chap. VI, 

And if the committee should contract with 
one of their own number, they would as effectu- 
ally bind the society as if they contracted with 
a stranger. (Eef. 3 Vt. Eep., 431; 2 Wash- 
burn, 593 ; 3 ibid., 405.) 

3. Where the articles of association provided 
that the whole expense of the house should be 
estimated on the whole number of pews, by ap- 
praisal, and that the subscribers should bid for 
their choice of pews, but that the average price 
of the pews should not exceed a certain sum, 
this could not be construed as limiting the 
amount to be expended by the building com- 
mittee in erecting the house ; and a member of 
the committee might recover for services and 
expenditures in erecting the building, notwith- 
standing the whole expense of the house ex- 
ceeded the amount which the pews would bring 
at the average price specified, if it could be 
shown that the building committee had not de- 
parted from the general plan prescribed for the 
building. (Ibid.) 

Section II. — Trustees. 

1. All our Church property, such as meet- 
ing-houses, parsonages, and cemeteries, held 



Sec. II.] TRUSTEES. 171 

according to Discipline, is vested in a board of 
trustees, who hold it in trust for the use of the 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The 
ministry, either in their individual or associated 
capacity, as Annual or General Conferences, 
have never claimed, nor do they hold, in law, 
any title to any chapel or parsonage by the 
deed of settlement. The fee of the land is 
vested in trustees, who hold the property in 
behalf of each respective society. The General 
Conference claims merely the right to supply 
the pulpit, by such means as it shall elect, with 
duly accredited ministers and preachers of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, " who shall preach 
and expound God's holy word therein." The 
General Conference of 1796, referring to the 
Deed of Settlement, adopted the following sen- 
timents : " By which we manifest to the whole 
world that the property of the preaching-houses 
will not be invested in the General Conference. 
But the preservation of our union, and the prog- 
ress of the work of God, indispensably require 
that the free and full use of the pulpit should be 
in the hands of the General Conference and the 
yearly conferences authorized by them. Of 
course, the travelling preachers who are in full 
connexion, assembled in their conferences, are 



172 CHURCH PROPERTY. [Chap. VI, 

the patrons of the pulpits of our churches." — 
Bee. Gen. Conf, p. 15. And if any chapel or 
parsonage is sold by the trustees to liquidate 
their debts, the surplus money, after cancelling 
the debts, must be appropriated by the annual 
conference, " according to the best of their judg- 
ment, for the use of the said society" 

2. When a new board of trustees is to be 
created, according to the form of Discipline, 
" for the security of our preaching-houses and 
the premises belonging thereto," the appoint- 
ment must be made by the preacher in charge, 
or by the presiding elder of the district in 
which the trustees reside. When a vacancy 
occurs by resignation, death, or expulsion from 
the Church, the preacher having the pas- 
toral charge of the society must call a meet- 
ing of the remaining trustees, as soon as con- 
veniently may be; and, when so met, the 
preacher must nominate one or more persons 
to fill the vacancy; and, in case of an equal 
number of votes for and against the nomination, 
the stationed preacher has the casting vote. 

In all meetings of trustees, thus appointed, 
the stationed preacher, by general usage, is ex 
officio the presiding officer. 



Sec. II.] TRUSTEES. 173 

3. To be eligible as a trustee, a person must 
be, at least, twenty-one years of age, and have 
been a regular member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church one year, immediately preceding 
his nomination. If a trustee ceases to be a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, his 
office as trustee immediately expires. No trus- 
tee, however, can be ejected from office while he 
is in joint security for money, unless such relief 
be given him as is demanded, or the creditor 
will accept. 

4. The great and paramount duty of trustees 
of religious corporations is to see that the tem- 
poralities committed to their charge are fully 
and fairly devoted to the purposes which the 
founders had in view in creating the trust. All 
their authority is necessarily subordinate to this 
end, and all exercise of it beyond the legitimate 
attainment of this end is usurpation. 

As the deed of settlement secures the use of 
the pulpit, " to preach and expound God's holy 
word therein," to such ministers and preachers of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church as the General 
Conference shall duly authorize, if the trustees 
should refuse to receive them, and shut the 
doors of the church against them, the court 



174 CHURCH PROPERTY. [Chap. VI, 

would issue a peremptory mandamus command- 
ing them to admit the preacher thus appointed 
into the church. 

It is no valid excuse for the trustees to say 
that a majority of the members of the Church 
direct them to close the doors, and sustain them 
in the act. "They are not chosen to represent 
that majority, but rather to execute the trust of 
carrying out the intention of those from whose 
benevolence flow the temporalities put in their 
charge. If such an excuse will ever be availa- 
ble, where will it srop ( TThat shall set bounds 
to its encroachment ( They from whose benev- 
olence has arisen some pious foundation, or some 
noble charity, may have passed from the stage 
of life, leaving behind them some such monument 
of their love for God and man. in the confident 
expectation that the trust they have confided to 
posterity will be faithfully executed. Upon 
what principle can it be justified, that they v 
now live to enjoy the fruits of the charity of the 
dead should be permitted, at their caprice, to 
control, and perhaps divert from its original 
purpose, the endowment which owes none of 
its support to them ? Xo such principle is 
known in law or morals." — 2 Barhour, pp. 

4:14, 415. 



Sec. II.] TRUSTEES. 175 

5. The trustees of an incorporated religious 
society are, virtute officii^ entitled to the posses- 
sion of all the temporalities of the society, and 
are considered as lawfully seized of the grounds 
and buildings of the Church ; and hence, if the 
trustees should close the doors of the church 
against the minister and congregation, they have 
no right to make a forcible entry into the church. 
The merit or demerit of the trustees in closing 
the doors of the church cannot be taken into 
consideration in this case. If the trustees have 
violated their trust, the society has ample reme- 
dy ; but this remedy does not consist in a forcible 
entry upon their possessions. While the trustees 
are in actual possession, the civil authority is 
bound to protect them against the unlawful and 
irregular intrusion of any persons, whether 
members of the Church or strangers. The trustees 
are responsible for the faithful discharge of their 
trust, not to a violent mob, but to the society, 
in a legal manner, whose interests they serve. 
(Eef. 9 Johnson, 156.) 

6. A church is erected for the public worship 
of God, and the moral and religious instruction 
of the people ; and the trustees have no authori- 
ty to make use of the church, at such intervals 



176 CHURCH PROPERTY. [Chap. VI, 

as it is not occupied by the pastor, for purposes 
at variance with the object for which it was 
erected. 

7. Trustees can legally protect the church 
property against all lawless violence and injury, 
even if the society has never been legally incor- 
porated, and may maintain an action against 
the trespasser for the injury which is done. 
(Kef. 9 Wendall, 414.) 

8. Where the officers of a religious corpora- 
tion are required by their charter to be annually 
elected, they would, probably, be allowed to 
exercise their office after the expiration of the 
year, provided an election had not taken place 
to fill the vacancy. This case is provided for in 
some of the states by express statutes, and such 
has been the general ruling of the courts. 

9. The power of trustees in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church seems to be restricted to the 
holding of real estate, and such personal prop- 
erty as has been raised or acquired for the bene- 
fit alone of the temporalities of the Church. 
They may take up subscriptions and collections 
for the purpose of creating Church property. 



Sec. II.1 TRUSTEE 8. 177 

for the payment of debts previously contracted, 
and for repairing and improving the real estate 
of the society; but they have no authority to 
forbid the stewards raising voluntary contribu- 
tions for the support of the gospel, and the va- 
rious benevolent institutions of the Church, nor 
can they claim that the funds raised for these 
purposes, either in the classes or in the public 
congregation, shall be deposited in their hands. 
Our economy requires that these funds shall be 
disbursed by the stewards, and the trustees can- 
not exercise their powers in such a manner as to 
defeat the very purposes of their creation. 
(Bangs's His. M. E. Church, vol. iv, pp. 175-181.) 

10. The board of trustees are responsible to 
the quarterly conference of the circuit or sta- 
tion, and are required to present a report, annu- 
ally, of their acts during the preceding year; 
hence the quarterly conference must see that 
all vacancies in the board of trust are duly filled, 
and that the corporation does not in any in- 
stance transcend its powers, or fail to discharge 
the obligations of its trust. In case it is neces- 
sary to take any legal steps to check the action 
of the trustees, the quarterly conference is the 

proper body to give instruction upon this subject. 
12 



178 CHURCH PROPERTY. [Chap. VI, 

11. Corporations created for a specific object 
have no power to take and hold real estate for 
purposes wholly foreign to that object. (3 Pick- 
ering, 232-240.) 

Section HE. — Pews. 

1. We do not propose in this section to con- 
sider the question of the propriety of building 
churches with pews ; but as such churches exist 
among us it is a practical question, What is the 
nature of the claim which a pew-holder possesses 
to a pew in a house of worship ? 

The society, or their representatives, the 
trustees, own the fee of the land on which the 
house is erected. By a grant of a pew, the 
grantee acquires only a qualified usufructuary 
right. He can claim no interest in the soil be- 
neath his pew, nor in the space above it, nor an 
absolute claim to any part of the building itself. 
The society can control the soil, can construct a 
gallery and pews above him, and prevent the 
pew-holder from removing the material of his 
pew from the house. The right of the pew- 
owner is limited as to time. If the house be 
burned, or destroyed by time, the right is lost. 
The grant of a pew does not bind the society to 
provide for the maintenance of public worship 



Sec. in.] pews. 179 

in the meeting-house ; but they may abandon it 
at pleasure. It is the opinion, also, of able 
jurists that the rights of a pew-owner are sub- 
ject to the right of the society to remove the 
house to such a location as will best accommo- 
date the whole congregation. In this case the 
value of the property is not diminished, but 
rather enhanced by the more commodious loca- 
tion of the house. But the pew-owner does 
acquire the exclusive right to occupy his pew 
when the house is opened for public religious 
worship. He may exclude all other persons 
from his pew, by fastening the pew door, pro- 
vided he does not annoy those who occupy other 
pews in the house ; and if a person enters a 
pew, when he knows that the owner forbids any 
such entry, he becomes a trespasser, and liable 
to an action for such entry. (See 17 Mass. Rep., 
435 ; 1 Pickering, 102 ; 24 Pickering, 347 ; 4 
K H. Rep., 181, 182; 3 Washburn, 266, 277; 
5 Metcalf, 127; 5 Cowen, 496 ; 19 Pick., 361.) 

2. When a meeting-house is conveyed to 
trustees for the use of a certain Church or soci- 
ety for a place of worship, and for no other use, 
intent, or purpose whatsoever, and in the deeds 
of the pews to individuals the provisions of the 



180 CHURCH PROPERTY. [Chap. VI, 

conveyance of the house are referred to and 
recognised, the pew-owner has a right, probably, 
to the occupancy of his pew whenever the house 
is publicly opened, though it is opened for pur- 
poses different from those mentioned in the con- 
veyance; nor can the trustees expel him from 
his pew on any public occasion. "It is the 
practice," however, as Judge Shaw remarks, 
" for religious societies to lend the use of their 
houses to various societies and philanthropic 
associations, to hold meetings for various pur- 
poses, and upon such occasions it has been usual 
for the body or association to whom the house 
is lent to control the use of the pews, without 
regard to particular owners. Perhaps loans of 
the use of houses of worship may be resolved 
into a mere practice of courtesy on the part of 
religious societies, and of voluntary acquiescence 
on the part of pew-owners, not affecting the 
legal rights of either."— 5 Metcalf, 133. 

3. No pew-owner has a right to use his pew 
for any purpose incompatible with the purpose 
for which the house was erected ; and if he 
should put any offensive covering over his pew, 
the trustees have a right to remove it ; but if, 
in removing it, they should do any unnecessary 



Sec. m.] PEWS. 181 

injury to the pew, they would become liable to 
an action for trespass. (5 Metcalf, 127.) 

4. When a house of worship is taken down 
as a matter of necessity, because it has become 
ruinous, and wholly unfit for the purposes for 
which it was erected, the trustees are not liable 
to make any compensation to the pew owners, 
but may take the avails of the materials of 
which the house was constructed for the purpose 
of erecting another house in its place ; but if 
the house is taken down to render it more con- 
venient and tasteful, or if in rebuilding the pews 
are destroyed for a useful purpose, an indemnity 
must probably be made to the pew-owner. (Ref. 
3 Washburn, 266 ; 19 Pickering, 361 ; 17 Mass. 
Rep., 435.) 

If, however, the trustees, after having taken 
all legal steps, should remove a pew, and make 
a tender to the owner of the value of his 
pew, his action would be barred for damages. 
(24 Pickering, 347.) 

5. The interest of a person in a pew in a 
house of worship, although limited and qualified, 
yet is of such a character that a contract for a 
pew, for a period extending beyond one year, 



182 CHURCH PROPERTY. [Chap. VI, 

would probably be void unless reduced to wri- 
ting. (16 Wendall, 28.) 

6. Pews are regarded in some states as real 
estate, in others as personal. In New-Hamp- 
shire they are deemed personal property, and 
may be attached by leaving an attested copy of 
the writ, and of the officer's return thereon, 
with the town clerk of the town in which such 
meeting-house is, provided the debtor's interest 
in one pew, in any meeting-house in which he 
or his family usually worship, shall be exempt 
from attachment. (E. S., chap. 184.) 

7. Houses of worship, pews, and their furni- 
ture, are exempt from taxation in nearly all the 
states of the Union. 

8. Selling pews at auction. The auctioneer, 
though a trustee, is the agent for both parties, — 
for the purchaser, as explicitly as for the trustees. 
The bidder announces his bid for the purpose 
that the auctioneer may write his name against 
the pew to be sold ; and when the entry is made 
the contract is signed by an agent for the pur- 
chaser, which renders it legally binding. But 
the memorandum of the sale must be perfect : 



Sec. III.] pews. 183 

the conditions must be specified, and all the 
papers must be attached together. The mere 
writing of the name of the purchaser on the 
ground plan of the pews, with the amount which 
is bid, is not sufficient. (16 Wendall, 28.) 

9. Form of deed. In a quit-claim deed,- of 
ordinary form, insert the following description : 

" The pew or seat in the Methodist Episcopal 

Church in the said L- , which is numbered 

, with all the privileges and appurtenances, 

estate, right, title, interest, and property of us, 
or of either of us, whatsoever, as trustees for 
and in behalf of the said Methodist Episcopal 
society : reserving to the said Methodist Episco- 
pal society the sole use of the said church as a 
place of religious worship, according to the rules 
and discipline which from time to time may be 
agreed upon at their General Conferences ; and 
also reserving to the said Methodist Episcopal 
society the sole use of the said pew during the 
holding of love-feasts, class-meetings, and such 
special Church meetings as the duly-authorized 
ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
shall appoint ; and also reserving unto the said 
Methodist Episcopal society the right to levy a 
proportipnate t&x upon said pew for the necessary 



184: CHURCH PROPERTY. [Chap. VI, 

repairs and insurance of the house." Signed, 
sealed, witnessed, and acknowledged in due 
form. 

Section IY. — Subscription Papers. 

1. No particular form is required to render a 
subscription legal. The object and conditions 
of the subscription should be clearly and ex- 
plicitly stated, and it should be made payable to 
a body competent to contract. A pecuniary 
consideration need not be mentioned to render 
the subscription valid : there should be implied 
mutual promises. The expending of money, or 
the undertaking by one party to accomplish an 
object which both desire, is a legal consideration 
for the promise of the other. Subscriptions for 
the purchase or improvement of real estate should 
be made payable to the board of trustees, when 
such trustees exist. 

2. "When a person, by a voluntary subscrip- 
tion, promises to pay in labour or materials, at 
his option, during another season, for the erection 
of a public building, and who can be presumed 
to know that the building is being erected, a 
demand on him for the labour or materials, pre- 
vious to the completion of the house, is not 



Sec. IV.] SUBSCRIPTION PAPERS. 185 

necessary. A demand made after the building- 
is finished is sufficient, if the payee is willing to 
receive such pay at the place where the building 
is erected, or at any other place equally con- 
venient for the promiser. If the promiser, in 
such a case, wishes to free himself from his obli- 
gation, he must make an offer of payment to the 
committee appointed to erect said building, or 
to the person or persons to whom his subscrip- 
tion has been assigned. (Kef. 2 Yt. Eeports, 48.) 

3. "When a conditional subscription is drawn, 
it should be so expressed that the corporation 
should virtually be requested by the promiser to 
perform certain acts, or fulfil certain conditions. 
Instead of saying that the amount subscribed is 
not to be paid until $50,000 are subscribed, it 
should read, Provided the corporation should 
procure subscriptions to the amount of $50,000, 
and should afterward invest the money in 
a particular mode. (Eef. 1 Comstock, pp. 
581-585.) 

4. Fictitious subscriptions, obtained for the 
purpose of inducing others to subscribe more 
largely, render void those subscriptions which 
follow them. (1 Yt. Rep., 189-212.) 



186 CHURCH PROPERTY. [Chap. VI, 

5. When an authorized agent makes a deduc- 
tion in collecting a subscription to a person to 
whom he thinks it is entitled, it does not invali- 
date the other subscriptions. (Id.) 

6. If the purpose for which the subscription 
was raised was never attempted in any manner 
to be executed, the promiser would not be obli- 
gated to pay his subscription. 



Sec. L] 



ALLOWANCE. 



187 



CHAPTER VII. 

MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 



Section I. — Allowance. 

1. The salaries of preachers are not graduated 
by their age in the ministry, their labours, tal- 
ents, or success ; but by the number and age of 
their families. 

The following schedule will show the maxi- 
mum annual amount allowed to the preacher and 
his family : — 





1774. 


1778. 


1780. 


1784. 


1800 


1816. 

$100t 

$100 

$16 

$24 

$16* 


1S24-55 

$100t 

$100 
$16 
$24 


Preacher 

Preacher's 
wife 


£24 Penn. 


£32 Ya. 


£32 Ya. 
£32* 


£24 Penn. 
£24* 

£6 

£8 


$80t 
$80 
$16 
$24 
$16* 


Child under 7 






Child from 7 
to 14 years . 

Orphans of 
Preachers. . 

























* Conditionally. t And travelling expenses. 

X The same as children of living preachers, according to their age. 

" On the death of a preacher, leaving a child 
or children without so much of worldly goods 
as should be necessary to his, her, or their 



188 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. [Chap. VII, 

support, the annual conference of which he was a 
member shall raise, in such manner as may be 
deemed best, a yearly sum for the subsistence 
and education of such orphan child or children, 
until he, she, or they shall have arrived at four- 
teen years of age ; the amount of which yearly 
sum shall be fixed by a committee of the con 
ference, at each session, in advance,"— Dis 
cvpline. 

2. The term allowance^ as used in the Disci- 
pline, denotes only quarterage and trowelling 



3. The regular quarterly allowance does not 
take precedence of the appropriations for fuel 
and table expenses, either in reference to the 
order of payment, or to authority and obligation. 
The claims are entirely distinct, and both are 
recognised by the law of the Church. When 
there is but one preacher appointed to a charge, 
or the entire claims of the preachers are met, no 
difficulty arises in blending the respective 
claims; but when there is more than one 
preacher on a charge, and the funds of the cir- 
cuit will not allow the stewards to pay more 
than say seventy-five per cent, of the entire 



Sec. L] ALLOWANCE. 189 

claim, this per cent, must be appropriated re- 
spectively to quarterage, travelling expenses, 
fuel, and table expenses. 

4. It is the duty of each preacher having the 
charge of a society to make a yearly collection 
in every congregation, where there is a proba- 
bility that the people will be willing to contrib- 
ute ; and the money so collected must be for- 
warded to the annual conference for appropria- 
tion. This collection is usually denominated 
the fifth collection; the four general collections 
are applied for the support of the preachers sta- 
tioned on the circuit or station. The fifth col- 
lection is appropriated to the making up of the 
allowances of the effective and superannuated 
preachers, the widows and children of deceased 
preachers ; and , if any surplus remain after 
making up all these allowances, it must be sent 
to that conference which is judged to be most 
necessitous. As the rule respecting the appro- 
priation of this collection was adopted previous 
to the existence of any rule allowing a claim for 
fuel and table expenses, it had exclusive refer- 
ence to the making up of the regular allowance 
for quarterage ; but as other claims have since 
been recognised as of equal obligation, general 



190 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. [Chap. VII, 

usage has allowed any just disciplinary claim to 
be met by this collection : provided that the 
amount of the collection is sufficient to meet 
such claims by an equitable division. 

5. The annual allowance of supernumerary 
and superannuated preachers is the same as that 
of effective preachers, and the allowance of 
widows and orphans of deceased travelling 
preachers is the same as that of the wives and 
children of living travelling preachers ; but each 
annual conference has " full power to determine, 
by a vote of two-thirds of all the members pres- 
ent and voting, who among the superannuated 
and supernumerary preachers, and the widows 
and orphans of deceased preachers belonging to 
the conference, shall be claimants on the funds 
of the conference, and what amount each claim- 
ant shall receive from year to year." 

6. There is no specific rule which determines 
what shall constitute travelling expenses. This 
matter is very wisely left for the stewards and 
preacher to arrange, subject to a reference to 
the quarterly conference. 

7. The travelling expenses of editors appointed 



Sec. I.] ALLOWANCE. 191 

by the General Conference include those ex- 
penses only which are incurred by moving to 
the place of their appointment, and in going to 
and returning from the annual sessions of the 
conferences of which they are members. (Rec 
Gen. Con. 1848, pp. 112, 113.) 

8. The rale authorizing the appointment of an 
estimating committee was formed by the Gen- 
eral Conference of 1816. This committee must 
be composed of members of the Church, but 
the rule does not require that they should be 
members of the quarterly conference. 

It is recommended that this committee be ap- 
pointed at the last quarterly conference in each 
ecclesiastical year, that they may be prepared 
to present their report to the first quarterly con- 
ference in the conference year. 

The report of the estimating committee has 
reference merely to the amount necessary to 
furnish fuel and table expenses for the families 
of the preachers stationed on the circuit. This 
report is subject to the action of the quarterly 
conference, and hence they may increase or di- 
minish the estimated amount. Quarterage is 
fixed by the Discipline, and the travelling ex- 
penses must be reckoned at their real amount ; 



192 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. [Chap. VII, 

and a suitable tenement must be provided by 
the stewards, or by the preacher, assisted by 
them. The entire claim, however, of the 
preacher is usually given in connexion with the 
report of the estimating committee, to aid in 
making suitable financial arrangements. 

In making their estimate the committee are 
not to take into the account the pecuniary abil- 
ity of the society, or the probability whether a 
given amount can be raised for the object; but 
simply the question. What is a suitable amount 
to furnish fuel and table expenses for the preach- 
er ? Every circumstance should be duly consid- 
ered : the condition of the preacher's family, 
whether sickly or otherwise; the state of the 
market, and the expensiveness of the place where 
the preacher resides. The social position of the 
preacher should not be overlooked. He should 
be enabled to live respectably among his con- 
gregation, and not reduced, by a stinted policy, 
so that he who should not be unmindful to en- 
tertain strangers should be necessitated to turn 
away angels from his door. 

9. Whenever any claimant on the funds of a 
conference shall be in debt to the Book Concern, 
the conference of which he is a member has 



Sec. I.] ALLOWANCE. 193 

power to appropriate the amount of such claim, 
or any part of it, to the payment of said debt. 
(Discipline.) 

10. It is general usage for the society to pay 
any expenses which may be incurred in supply- 
ing the pulpit on the Sabbath, in which the 
preacher is absent at the annual conference. 

11. The General Conference of 1792 adopted 
the following rule for the support of presiding 
elders: "If there be a surplus of the public 
money in one or more circuits in his district, he 
shall receive such surplus, provided he do not 
receive more than his annual salary. In case 
of a deficiency in his salary, after such surplus 
is paid him, or if there be no surplus, he shall 
share with the preachers of his district, in pro- 
portion with what they have respectively re- 
ceived, so that he receive no more than the 
amount of his salary upon the whole." In 1816 
it was provided that there should be " a meeting 
in every district of one steward from each 
station and circuit, whose duty it should be, by 
and with the advice of the presiding elder, to 
take into consideration the general state of the 
district in regard to temporalities, and to furnish 

13 



194: MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. [Chap. VII, 

a house, fuel, and table expenses for the presid- 
ing elder ;" and in 1836 it was made their du- 
ty to apportion his entire claim — quarterage, 
travelling expenses, house-rent, fuel, and table 
expenses — "among the different circuits and 
stations in the district, according to their several 
ability." Two distinct estimated claims are now 
presented to each circuit and station, — one for 
the stationed preacher, the other for the presiding 
elder. Both are sanctioned by the highest au- 
thority in our Church, and are equally obligatory 
upon every society. 

12. If the presiding elder has received his 
full claim, and the stationed preacher has not, 
he must refund such a proportion which he has 
received from a given circuit, if the preacher 
shall so require, that his entire receipts from 
the circuit shall bear the same per cent, to his 
claim as those of the stationed preacher. If the 
circuit, for example, can pay only seventy-five 
per cent, on both claims, this is the amount 
which each preacher must receive. 

13. The pecuniary ability of the different cir- 
cuits and stations, the geographical limits of the 
charges, and the circumstances of the presiding 






Sec. I.] ALLOWANCE. 195 

elder's family, are subject to such frequent 
changes that it is presumed that an annual meet- 
ing of the district stewards will be demanded. 

14. When a preacher is absent from his 
charge, in obedience to the authority of the 
Church, as delegate to the General Conference, 
member of the General Mission Committee, 
&c, he is entitled to his full salary as a regular 
pastor. 

15. When an effective preacher, by the ap- 
pointment of the bishop and the recommenda- 
tion of an annual conference, serves a corporation 
as professor, agent of the American Bible Soci- 
ety, &c, it is understood that he thereby re- 
leases his claim, while employed in such service, 
on the conference funds for his support. 

16. A preacher, while suspended by an annu- 
al conference, has no disciplinary claim on the 
funds of the conference. A violation of cove- 
nant vows works a forfeiture of all such claims. 

17. When the widow of a travelling preacher 
marries, she ceases to be a claimant on the 
funds of conference ; but her claim does not 



196 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. [Chap. VII, 

depend upon her Christian character, and her 
connexion with the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

18. The British "Wesleyan Connexion have a 
specific rule that those preachers who marry 
widows having issue by their former husbands, 
shall have no assistance, either from the public 
funds or from the circuits in which they labour, 
for the children of the former marriage. Such 
is the usage among us. But a child legally 
adopted by a preacher is a claimant until four- 
teen years of age. 

19. A preacher having children who are mi- 
nors, and yet over fourteen years of age, should 
be allowed an amount for table expenses suffi- 
cient to give them an adequate support while 
they remain members of his family. 

Section II. — Stewards. 

1. The following is Mr. Wesley's account of 
the origin of stewards : " In a few days some of 
them said, 'Sir, we will not sit under you for 
nothing; we will subscribe quarterly. 5 I said, 
i I will have nothing, for I want nothing. My 
fellowship supplies me with all I want.' One 
replied, 'Nay, but you want a hundred and 



Sec.IL] STEWARDS. 197 

fifteen pounds to pay for the lease of the Found- 
ery, and likewise a large sum of money to put 
it into repair.' On this consideration I suffered 
them to subscribe. And when the society met 
I asked, ' Who will take the trouble of receiving 
this money, and paying it where it is needful V 
One said, ' I will do it, and keep the account for 
you. 5 So here was the first steward. After- 
ward I desired one or two more to help me as 
stewards, and in process of time a greater 
number." 

2. " The business of stewards," says Mr. Wes- 
ley, in his usual laconic style, " is, — 

a. "To manage the temporal things of the 
society. 

h. "To receive the subscriptions and contri- 
butions. 

c. " To expend what is needful, from time to 
time, 

d. " To send relief to the poor. 

e. "To keep an exact account of all receipts 
and expenses. 

f. "To inform the minister if any of the 
rules of the society are not punctually ob- 
served. 

g, "To tell the preachers in love, if they 



198 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. (Chap. VII, 

think anything amiss either in their doctrine or 
life. 

" The rules of stewards are : — 

a. " Be frugal. Save everything that can be 
saved honestly. 

5. " Spend no more than you receive. Con- 
tract no debts. 

c. "Have no long accounts. Pay eveiything 
within the week, or as soon as possible. 

d. " Give none that asks relief either an ill 
word or an ill look. Do not hurt if you cannot 
help them. 

e. "Expect no thanks from man." — Wesley's 
Works, vol. v, p. 185. 

The duties of stewards are numerous and re- 
sponsible. They relate, in part, to the effective 
operations of the pastorate, and in part to the 
pecuniary arrangements of the circuit. Though 
stewards may have but little to do in determin- 
ing the estimated amount to be raised, yet the 
amount which is actually paid for the sup- 
port of the pastor depends almost exclu- 
sively upon their efforts. Stewards are ordi- 
narily the types of the pecuniary character of 
the societies which they represent. Where 
energetic and effective stewards are employed, 
poverty will vie with wealth, and comparatively 



Sec. II.] STEWARDS, 199 

small and feeble societies will amply sustain the 
institutions of the Church. 

Stewards should endeavour to induce all the 
members of the Church to contribute statedly 
to every benevolent enterprise, as a matter of 
religious principle. Spasmodic efforts to raise 
an unusual amount for any institution, or for 
some admired preacher, are always attended 
with disastrous reaction, and greatly embarrass 
all financial arrangements. The amount which 
is paid ought never to be graduated by the 
popularity of the preacher, but by the wants 
of the Church, and the ability with which God 
has blessed us. 

Stewards should endeavour to raise the 
preacher's claim by quarterly instalments. 
This plan can be executed in most places, and 
can be at least partially executed in all. The 
expenses of the preacher in moving upon the 
circuit should be paid to him on his arrival 
at his charge. This amount has actually 
been paid by the preacher in advance, in his 
efforts to serve them; and justice demands that 
actual expenditures for their benefit should im- 
mediately be met. Promptitude under such 
circumstances is appreciated far beyond the in- 
trinsic value of the offering made : it furnishes 



200 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT, [Chap. VII, 

an unmistakable welcome to the preacher, and 
a cordiality most gratifying to his heart. 

Stewards should see that every subscription is 
collected when it becomes payable. It is of no 
avail to raise subscriptions unless prompt and 
systematic efforts are made for their collec- 
tion. 

Every regular attendant on the ministry of 
the word should be solicited, in a proper man- 
ner, to aid in the support of the gospel. None 
will be offended who are approached with Chris- 
tian courtesy ; and the privileges which their 
own money helps to secure will be more highly 
prized by them. 

The steward should remember that if he fail 
to discharge his duties, the cause of God will in- 
evitably suffer. No other member of the Church 
feels at liberty to act in his capacity without ap- 
pointment ; and unless the finances of the Church 
are properly managed, the ministry must be 
embarrassed, or retire from their work. 

3. The preacher in charge, previous to 1812, 
had the power to appoint stewards. Since that 
time he has possessed only the right of nomina- 
tion,— the power of appointment being vested in 
the quarterly conference. 



Seo.n.] STEWARDS. 201 

4. Stewards are responsible to the quarterly 
conference for the faithful discharge of their 
official duties; and the quarterly conference 
may dismiss or change them at pleasure, with- 
out preferring any formal charge. But the 
appointment of stewards for a limited time only, 
at which their term of office would expire 
without any quarterly conference action, is un- 
authorized by the Discipline and usage of the 
Church. 

5. Since the year 1820, one of the stewards 
has been specifically appointed a recording 
steward. This office, however, does not consti- 
tute him, ex officio, the secretary of the quarterly 
conference. His duties require him to register 
the marriages and baptisms, and to record the 
doings of the quarterly conference, and the 
Sabbath-school quarterly reports. In other re- 
spects the prerogatives and duties of recording 
stewards are the same as those of other stewards. 

6. A preacher in charge has no right to ac- 
cept the resignation of a steward, and declare 
the office vacant. The quarterly conference, 
which confers the office, can alone accept of the 
resignation. 



202 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. [Chap. VII. 

7. When two circuits or stations, each having 
seven stewards, are united in one pastoral 
charge, such reorganization displaces all the 
stewards, and a new board must be organized, 
according to Discipline. 






Chap. VIII.] RULES OF ORDER. 203 



CHAPTEB VIH. 
RULES OF ORDER. 

1. — Parliamentary Rules. 

Every pastor will frequently be called to pre- 
side over the deliberations of others, and hence 
should be well versed in all that relates to the 
correct and orderly management of deliberative 
bodies. 

The preacher in charge, by virtue of his office, 
is the presiding officer in leaders' meetings, in 
the meetings of such boards of trustees as are 
appointed according to Discipline, in quarterly 
conferences, in the absence of the presiding 
elder, in the arbitration and trial of members, in 
the missionary committees, and in the committee 
of local preachers, called to investigate the case 
of an accused local preacher. 

2. — Temporary Organization. 

It frequently happens that a temporary organ- 
ization is necessary. In such cases, some person 
of age, or distinction, should rise and call the 



204: RULES OF OBDER, [Chap. VIII. 

meeting to order, announcing the arrival of the 
time of the meeting, and suggesting an organi- 
zation, by the appointment of a chairman before 
proceeding to business. The same person should 
act until a chairman is selected. Some four or 
five persons may be nominated as chairman. 
The question should not be put until every 
nomination that is desired is made. The names 
of the nominees should then be announced, in 
the order in which the nominations were made, 
and the question submitted to the assembly. 
"When a majority of votes is given for any 
candidate, he should be declared president pro 
Um., and invited to the chair, without voting 
upon the other names. 

The president pro tem., having taken the 
chair, should conduct the religious services of 
the occasion, or call upon some competent person 
to do so. 

After prayer, a secretary pro tern, should be 
appointed. If several secretaries are appointed, 
the one first named is the principal officer. 

In all deliberative representative assemblies it 
is necessary to ascertain who are properly mem- 
bers. This should be done, by general consent, 
either before or after the permanent organiza- 
tion, before proceeding to any other business. 






Chap. VIII.] RULES OF ORDER. 205 

This may be done by the secretaries' receiving 
the credentials and recording the names, or by 
a committee, who receive and report on the 
credentials of members. 

In case the seat of a member is contested, he 
should be heard in his own defence, and then 
retire until the case is determined. The other 
members, who are legally appointed, form a 
court to determine the question of all contested 
elections, unless they refer it to a committee. 

3. — Permanent Organization. 

This is usually done in one of two ways. 
First, by raising a committee to nominate a full 
board of officers for the association, and pro- 
ceeding to ballot, or to confirm the nomination 
by vote ; or, secondly, by promiscuously nomin- 
ating the different officers viva voce, and then 
balloting or confirming by hand- vote. 

4. — Presiding Officer. 

The duties of a presiding officer are the fol- 
lowing : — 

To call the members to order at the appointed 
time. 

To conduct the religious services. 

To direct the roll to be called at the opening 



206 RULES OF ORDER. [Chap. VIII. 

of each session, unless otherwise ordered, and 
the records of the previous meeting to be read. 

To announce the order of business, if any 
manifesto has been put forth respecting it. 

To receive all messages and communications, 
and announce them to the meeting. 

To put to vote all questions which are regu- 
larly submitted, or necessarily arise in the 
course of the proceedings, and declare the result. 

To see that the laws of debate, and due order 
and decorum, are observed by the members. 

To decide all questions of order. 

To authenticate, by his signature, all the acts 
and proceedings of the assembly. 

To appoint committees, when directed in a 
particular case, or when a standing rule re- 
quires it ; and, in general, to obey implicitly its 
commands. 

The chairman ought to give direct and serious 
attention to each individual while speaking, and 
to hold no conversation with any one at the time. 

The utmost impartiality should be observed. 
Minorities and opponents should have their in- 
terests as jealously guarded as those of the 
majority, or of most intimate friends. 

When the president withdraws from the chair, 
the vice-president should take his place. If 



Jhap.VIIL] RULES OF ORDER. 207 

there be no vice-president, custom allows the 
president to appoint a chairman during his 
temporary absence. 

If, in the absence of the president, it becomes 
necessary to choose a president pro tern,, it is 
the duty of the secretary to conduct the pro- 
ceedings. 

In large assemblies, the presiding officer may 
read sittmg^ but should rise to state a motion or 
put a question. 

5. — Secretary. 

The general duties of the recording officer of 
a deliberative body are the following : — 

To keep a correct record of the proceedings 
of the assembly. 

To read all papers which may be ordered to 
be read. 

To notify the chairman of each committee of 
his appointment, giving him a list of his col- 
leagues, and stating the business referred to them. 

To authenticate, by his signature, all the acts 
of the assembly. 

To preserve all the papers and documents of 
the assembly, and allow none to be taken from 
his table without a formal leave of the assembly. 

The secretary, if a member of the body, is not 



208 RULES OF ORDER. [Chap. VIII. 

deprived of the privilege of taking part in the 
deliberations of the meeting. 

The secretary should stand while reading or 
calling the roll of the assembly. 

He should write a clear, legible hand ; and all 
items of business, for the sake of easy reference, 
should be recorded in separate paragraphs. 

The peculiar duties of the secretary of an an- 
nual conference are the following : — 

a. At the opening of each annual session, the 
secretary of the previous session usually reads 
the roll of the members, to aid the president in 
the organization of the conference. 

h. To furnish the bishop with answers to 
questions 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th of the 
business of conference, (Discipline, part i, ch. iii, 
sec. iii,) for the general Minutes, 

c. To countersign all drafts upon the Book 
Concern and Chartered Fund. 

The journals of the annual conferences are 
subject to the inspection of the General Con- 
ference, and should be executed in the best 
manner, as it regards penmanship, arrange- 
ment, and mode of reference. The heading 
of every page should give the date; and the 
margin, references to all the transactions re- 
corded. 



Chap. VIII.] RULES OF ORDER. 209 

6. — Members. 

All members have an equal right to submit 
propositions to the assembly, and to explain and 
recommend them in discussion. 

No member should be interrupted when 
speaking, except by the president, to call him 
to order when he departs from the question, 
uses personalities or disrespectful language ; but 
any member may call the attention of the presi- 
dent to the subject when he deems a speaker 
out of order: and any member may explain, 
if he thinks himself misrepresented, 

A member who violates the rules of decorum 
may be named by the president, — that is, the 
president may declare that such a member, 
calling him by name, is guilty of certain im- 
proper conduct. The member thus accused is 
entitled to be heard in his own defence, and 
must then withdraw. 

The only punishments which a deliberative 
body can inflict are reprimanding, prohibition 
to speak or vote for a specified time, and ex- 
pulsion. They may require the offender to ask 
pardon, on pain of expulsion. 

Any member who desires to speak must re- 
spectfully address the chair. 
14 



210 RULES OF ORDER. [Chap. VIII. 

If two members address the president nearly 
at the same time, he should give the floor to the 
one whose voice he first heard. If the decision 
of the president is not satisfactory to any mem- 
ber, the opinion of the assembly may be taken 
on it. 

7.— Motions. 

"When a motion has been made and seconded, 
the presiding officer must state it to the assem- 
bly before it is in their possession. 

No speech should be made without a motion, 
nor after a motion is submitted, until it is 
seconded, and stated by the president. 

All motions or resolutions, introduced by any 
member, must be reduced to writing, if the 
president, secretary, or any two members re- 
quest it. 

According to the rules of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, and those of the General Conference, 
any motion or resolution may be withdrawn by 
the mover, at any time, before decision or 
amendment. 

No new motion or resolution can be made 
until the one under consideration is disposed of; 
which may be done by adoption or rejection, 
unless one of the following motions should 



Chap.VIIL] RULES OF ORDEK. 211 

intervene, which motions must have precedence 
in the order in which they are placed, namely, 
adjournment, indefinite postponement, laying on 
the table, reference to a committee, postpone- 
ment to a given time, amendment, or a sub- 
stitute. 

All motions should be put in an affirmative 
and not in a negative form. 

8. — Indefinite Postponement 

If a motion has been indefinitely postponed, it 
cannot be called up or resumed during that ses- 
sion. If a negative decision has been given, it 
has no effect whatever on the final disposal of 
the question. 

9. — Laying on the Table. 

This motion is proper when the assembly 
wish for more information upon the subject. 
If decided in the affirmative, the principal mo- 
tion, and all subsidiary questions connected with 
it, are removed from before the assembly until 
it is taken up again, which may be done at any 
time, at the pleasure of the assembly. If it is 
not taken up, it is equivalent to an indefinite 
postponement. 



212 RULES OF OKDEE. |Chap. VIII. 

10. — Referring to a Committee. 

When a proposition is regarded with favour, 
and some modifications are desired, it is usual to 
refer it to a committee, — to the standing com- 
mittee, if one has been raised on that subject; 
otherwise, to a select committee. 

If it is suggested to refer it both to a standing 
and to a select committee, the question should 
be first put in reference to the standing com- 
mittee. A portion only of a subject may be 
referred, and different portions may be referred 
to different committees. 

If a committee make a report, and the as- 
sembly wish for certain alterations or amend- 
ments, they may recommit the report. 

If a subject is referred with instructions, those 
instructions, of course, must be obeyed. 

11. — Division of a Question. 

TThen a proposition consists of two or more 
parts, so independent and distinct that if one be 
taken away the others will remain entire, and it 
is supposed that the assembly may approve of 
some but not of all the parts, it is frequently 
more desirable to resolve it into its elementary 
parts than to attempt to modify it by amendments. 



Chap. VIIL] RULES OF ORDER. 213 

Where a deliberative body has adopted no 
rule providing for the division of complicated 
questions, no division should take place without 
a definite motion to divide, unless a unanimous 
consent is given. 

12. — Filling Blanks. 

"When blanks are left for the assembly to fill, 
the proposition to fill is not an amendment, but 
an original motion. 

In filling blanks where different numbers are 
named, the question should be put first on the 
largest sum and the longest time. 

13. — Amendments. 

The mover may modify or accept of an 
amendment when it is made, before it has 
been stated to the assembly by the chairman. 
In this case, it becomes a part of the original 
motion. In all other cases it must be put as a 
regular amendment. 

Rules respecting Amendments. — Amendments 
may be made in three ways, — by striking out 
certain words, or by inserting certain words, 
or by striking out some and inserting other 
words. 

1. When a proposition consists of several 



214 RULES OF ORDER. [Chap. VIII. 

sentences or resolutions, it should be taken up in 
order, and eacli paragraph amended according 
to the pleasure of the assembly : and when it is 
thus passed through, it is not deemed orderly to 
introduce new amendments into the first part of 
the proposition. 

2. Every amendment may be amended ; but 
it can go no further. There cannot be an amend- 
ment to an amendment of an amendment. The 
question should first be put on the last amend- 
ment, and proceed in that order. 

3. Whatever is agreed to by the assembly, on 
a vote, either adopting or rejecting a proposed 
amendment, cannot afterward be altered or 
amended. 

4. The converse of the above rule is true. 
Whatever is disagreed to by the assembly, on a 
vote, cannot afterward be moved again. 

Striking out. — If an amendment to strike out 
is rejected, it cannot be moved again to strike 
out the same words, or a part of them ; but it 
may be moved to strike out the same words, or 
a part of them, with other words. But if the 
amendment to strike out is agreed to, it cannot 
afterward be moved to insert the same words, or 
a part of them, unless it is proposed to insert 
other words in connexion with them. The same 



Chap. VIII.] RULES OF ORDER. 215 

rule applies in reference to inserting the same 
words, or a part of them. The motion to amend 
those relating to striking out and inserting ap- 
plies as in other cases of amendment. 

Striking out cmd inserting. — If the motion is 
divided, the question is first to be taken on 
striking out ; and if that is decided in the affirm- 
ative, then on inserting: but if the former is 
decided in the negative, the latter of course 
falls. 

If the motion to strike out and insert is put 
undivided, and decided in the negative, the 
same motion cannot again be renewed. But it 
may be moved to strike out and, 

1. Insert nothing ; or, 

2. Insert other words ; or, 

3. Insert the same, with other words ; or, 

4. Insert a part of the same words with 
others; or, 

5. Strike out the same words with others, and 
insert the same ; or, 

6. Strike out a part of the same words with 
others, and insert the same ; or, 

7. Strike out other words, and insert the 
same; or, 

8. Insert the same words without striking out 
anything. (Eef. Cushing's Manual.) 



216 RULES OF OKDEK. [Chap.VIIL 

On putting the question, first read the pas- 
sage proposed to be amended as it stands, then 
the words proposed to be struck out or inserted ; 
and, lastly, the whole passage as it will stand if 
the amendment be adopted. 

Defeating a Proposition. — Amendments may 
be made to a proposition, which will not only 
modify the meaning, but convey a directly op- 
posite sense ; and often, in legislative bodies, 
bills are amended by striking out all after the 
enacting clause, and inserting a new bill ; and 
resolutions are amended by striking out all after 
the words " resolved that," and inserting a prop- 
osition of an entirely different character. 

14. — Privileged Questions. 

Questions of this nature are of three kinds : 
1. Motions to adjourn. 2. Motions relating to 
the rights and privileges of the assembly, or of 
its members individually. 3. Motions for the 
orders of the day. 

1 5 . — Adjournment. 

A simple motion to adjourn cannot be amend- 
ed, but must be decided without debate. A mo- 
tion to adjourn to a particular day is debatable, 
and may be amended in regard to time. 



Chap.VIII.1 RULES OF ORDER. 217 

"A motion to adjourn is not in order, 1. When 
a member is speaking ; 2. When a vote is being 
taken on any question; 3. A motion to adjourn 
being negatived, cannot be renewed until some 
other proposition is made, or other business 
transacted." — Matthias's Manual, p. 72. 

An adjournment without day is equivalent 
to a dissolution. 

When a question is interrupted by adjourn- 
ment before any vote is taken upon it, it is 
thereby removed from the assembly, and does 
not stand before it at its next regular session, 
but must be brought forward in the usual way. 
But an adjourned special meeting is regarded 
as a continuation of a former meeting, and the 
business should be resumed the same as if no 
adjournment had taken place. 

16. — Orders of the Day. 

When the consideration of a subject has 
been assigned by the assembly to a certain 
day, it is called the order of the day. 

If any other proposition arise on the day 
assigned for the consideration of any subject, a 
motion for the order of the day will supersede 
such proposition, and must be first put and 
decided. 



218 RULES OF ORDER. [Chap. VIII. 

To entitle this motion to precedence, it must 
be for the orders of the day generally, if there is 
more than one, and not for any particular sub- 
ject; and the orders must be taken up in the 
order in which they stand. 

If a subject is assigned for any particular 
hour, the question to proceed to it is not a 
privileged one until the hour has arrived: but 
if no hour is fixed, the order is for the entire 
day and every part of it. 

If the motion for the orders of the day pre- 
vails, the original question is removed from the 
consideration of the assembly, in the same man- 
ner as if it had been interrupted by an adjourn- 
ment. If the motion is decided in the negative, 
the orders of the day must be superseded until 
that subject is disposed of. 

The orders of the day, unless disposed of on 
the day assigned, fall, and must be renewed for 
some other day. 

17. — Incidental Questions, 

Such as questions of order, motions for the 
reading of papers, leave to withdraw a motion, 
suspension of a rule, and amendment of an 
amendment, must be decided before the ques- 
tions which gave rise to them. 



Chap. VIII.] RULES OF ORDER. 219 

18. — Questions of Order. 

It is the duty of the presiding officer to en- 
force the rules of the assembly ; and any mem- 
ber noticing a breach of the rule may call his 
attention to it, and insist upon the enforcement 
of it. 

When a question of order arises, all other 
business must be suspended until that point is 
settled. The presiding officer must decide the 
point without debate. If the decision is not 
satisfactory, any member may appeal to the as- 
sembly. The question should then be stated: 
" Shall the decision of the chair stand as the 
decision of the assembly?" When it is thus 
stated it is debatable, and the presiding officer 
may participate in the debate. When a ques- 
tion has been put, and the decision announced, 
if any member alleges that the question was 
not understood, the presiding officer may recall 
his decision and put the question again. 

19. — Previous Question. 

The design of the previous question is chiefly 
for suppressing debate, and taking immediate 
action on the main question. 

The question is put in this form : " Shall 



220 RULES OF ORDER. [Chap. VIIL 

tlie main question be now put C % If it is de- 
cided in the negative, the debate continues ; 
if in the affirmative, the vote must be at once 
taken, in the form in which it exists at the 
time. 

A previous question cannot be amended By 
the rules of the House of Representatives, the 
previous question can only be admitted when 
demanded by a majority of the members pres- 
ent ; and if it is ordered, it brings the House to 
a direct vote upon a motion to commit, if such 
motion shall have been made ; and if this motion 
does not prevail, then upon amendments re- 
ported by a committee, if any; then upon pend- 
ing amendments, and then upon the main ques- 
tion. It is not in order to move the previous 
question unless the assembly has adopted the 
rule for its government. TThen the previous 
question is moved and seconded by the requisite 
number, all further amendments and discussion 
must cease. The president rises and says. "The 
previous question has been moved and second- 
ed. — the question before the meeting is. ; Shall 
the main question be now put V '' If it is de- 
cided in the affirmative, the question should then 
be put. first on the amendments, and then on the 
main proposition. 



Chap. V1II.1 RULES OF ORDER. 221 

20. — Order of Proceeding. 

When the assembly does not prescribe any 
order of proceeding, the presiding officer may 
present any regular business according to his 
discretion. In an annual conference, the regu- 
lar disciplinary questions are presented by the 
bishop by disciplinary authority, and at his dis- 
cretion as to time and circumstances. 

In considering a proposition consisting of sev- 
eral paragraphs, the paper should first be read 
entirely through by the secretary, then a second 
time by the presiding officer or secretary, pausing 
at the close of every paragraph, that amendments 
may be made if desired ; and when the whole 
paper has been gone through with, in this order, 
the final question should be put on agreeing to, 
or adopting, the whole paper as amended or un- 
amended. 

"When there is a preamble, it should be con- 
sidered after the disposal of the resolutions or 
propositions under it. When a paper has been 
referred to a committee, and reported back with 
amendments, these amendments must first be 
disposed of, unless amended, before other amend- 
ments are introduced. 

It is deemed an unparliamentary and abusive 



2'2'2 RULES OF ORDER. LChap. Till. 

proceeding to introduce a proposition, and. at 
the same time, move the previous question. In 
such cases it is recommended by Judge Gushing 
to take no notice of the motion for the previous 
question. 

21. — Order hi Debate. 

The presiding officer is not presumed to enter 
into the debate ; but he is allowed to state mat- 
ters of fact within his knowledge, to inform the 
assembly on points of order when called upon to 
do so. or when it is necessary to do so ; and on 
appeals from his decision on questions of order, 
he may address the assembly in debate. 

A member rising to address the assembly must 
respectfully address himself to the president, and 
not proceed until his name is called by that officer. 

When two or more members rise at nearly the 
same time, the president must name the mem- 
ber who is first to speak. The person whose 
voice is first heard is entitled to the floor. If 
the assembly is not satisfied with the decision of 
the chair, the question should be put first in refer- 
ence to the person named by the president ; and 
if it is decided in the negative, then upon the 
name of the person for whom the floor is claimed 
in preference to him. 



Chap. VIII.] KULES OF OKDER. 223 

When a person gives way to another to speak, 
he really resigns the floor, and can retain it only 
by general consent, or the vote of the assembly. 

When the presiding officer rises to speak, any 
other member should be seated until he is first 
heard ; but this does not authorize any presiding 
officer to interrupt a speaker unless he is out of 
order. 

Every member should confine himself directly 
to the subject of debate; but the presiding offi- 
cer should not generally interpose, unless the re- 
marks are manifestly irrelevant. 

When called to order for irrelevancy, the 
speaker may proceed, unless a motion prevail 
that he is out of order. And in this case, by 
usual parliamentary rules, he may proceed, if he 
abandons his objectionable course of remark; 
but by the rules of the House of Representatives 
such speakers are not allowed to proceed, if any 
member objects, without leave of the House. 

No member should speak more than once upon 
the same question without the permission of the 
assembly, unless it be to explain, although the 
debate on the question may be continued through 
several days. 

Respectful attention should be paid to every 
speaker. 



22tL RULES OF OKDEE. LChap. VIII. 

If a member uses offensive and abusive lan- 
guage toward other members, he may be stopped 
by one or more rising for that purpose, or by the 
president; and the words objected to should be 
written down by the secretary, that the offender 
may disclaim or apologize for the offence, or re- 
ceive the censure of the assembly. 

22. — Taking the Question. 

A proposition made to a deliberative body is 
called a motion : when propounded to the assem- 
bly for reception or rejection, it is denominated 
a question * when adopted it becomes the order, 
resolution, or vote of the assembly. 

Strictly speaking, no question can arise in a 
deliberative assembly without a motion being 
first made and seconded ; yet sometimes, for the 
despatch of business, the presiding officer takes it 
for granted that a motion has been made, and 
puts the question accordingly. 

The question being stated, the president puts 
it first in the affirmative: "As many as are of 
opinion that, [repeating the question,] say Ay," 
or "raise your hands;" and, putting it in the 
negative, " As many as are of a different opin- 
ion," &c. 

If the presiding officer is doubtful as to the 



Chap. VIII.] KULES OF 0RDEK. 225 

majority of voices, he may put the question a 
second time ; or, if he is still doubtful, or a 
member doubts the vote, he may direct the as- 
sembly to divide, and appoint tellers to return 
the several divisions of the house ; or the secre- 
tary to count the number who rise in voting. 
Every person is bound, unless excused, to vote on 
every question. 

A person not present when the vote is taken, 
cannot vote without permission of the assembly. 

If the members are equally divided upon a 
question, the presiding officer ordinarily may 
give the casting vote. This rule, however, does 
not apply to the president of annual and quar- 
terly conferences. 

If a question arise upon a point of order, — ■ 
for example, as to the right or the duty of a 
member to vote w r hile a division is taking place,— 
the presiding officer must decide it peremptorily, 
subject to the correction of the assembly after 
the division is over. 

If a quorum is not present when a division 
takes place, there can be no decision. 

23. — Reconsideration. 

When any motion or resolution has been car- 
ried in the affirmative or negative, it is in order 
15 



226 RULES OF ORDER. [Chap. VI11. 

for any member who voted in the majority to 
move for a reconsideration of it. 

The passage of a resolution to reconsider 
places the question where it was before decision, 
and leaves it open for discussion, amendment, 
adoption, or rejection. 

24. — Committees. 

Committees appointed to consider a particular 
subject are called select committees / those ap- 
pointed to consider all subjects of a similar na 
ture are denominated standing committees. 

It is customary, in all deliberative bodies, to 
constitute a majority of the committee of such 
persons as are known to be favourably inclined 
to the measure proposed. 

The person first named on a committee is the 
chairman to call the first meeting; but every 
committee may elect its own chairman to preside 
over its deliberations. 

They may receive instructions when the busi- 
ness is at first referred to them, or at any subse- 
quent period. A committee is not at liberty to 
sit while the assembly is sitting, without special 
permission. It can act only when regularly as- 
sembled together as a committee, — a separate 
consultation and consent is not binding. If a 



Chap. VIII.] RULES OF ORDER. 227 

paper has been referred to a committee, and 
they are entirely opposed to it, they ought not 
to suppress it, but report it back to the assembly 
with their objections. It should not be erased, 
interlined, or disfigured. If amendments are 
proposed to it, they should be written on a 
separate piece of paper. The report may be 
made to the assembly by the chairman, or 
by any other person who shall be authorized 
to do so. 

25. — Reports of Committees. 

Every report should be written fully and 
plainly, without erasure or interlinear lines, and 
signed either by the chairman and secretary, or 
by all the members of the committee. 

A report may be received by direct vote, or 
the general consent of the assembly. 

A report may consist merely of a statement 
of facts, reasoning, or opinion, or simply of 
a series of resolutions, or of both combined. 
When a report closes with a series of reso- 
lutions, the assembly should first act on the 
resolutions, and then on the preliminary re- 
marks. 

When the report of a select committee is ac- 
cepted, the committee is discharged. 



228 RULES OF ORDER. [Chap. VIII. 

26. — Minority Report 

"Should a committee not be unanimous in 
opinion, and those in the minority be desirous 
of placing their views before the meeting, the 
matter should be introduced immediately after 
the majority report has been read. A member 
will then move that c the report and resolution 
thereto attached be postponed for the present, for 
the purpose of enabling the minority to make a 
report as a substitute.' If this motion prevails, 
as is almost always the case ? the minority report 
will be immediately presented, received, and 
read. It is then in order, on motion, to take 
up for consideration the resolution attached to 
either of the reports.' 5 — B. Matthias's Manual^ 
page 38. 

Or when the majority report is considered, the 
minority report may be moved as an amend- 
ment, or a substitute for it. 

A protest cannot be inserted on the journal 
without the consent of the majority. 

27. — Committee of the Whole. 

When a subject has been ordered to be refer- 
red to a Committee of the Whole, the mode of 
organizing such committee is as follows: A 



Chap. VIII.1 RULES OF OKDEK, 229 

motion is made and seconded that the assembly 
do now resolve itself into a Committee of the 
Whole for the purpose of considering the matter 
relating to — — , naming the subject. If the 
question prevails, the president will call some 
member to the chair, or the assembly may ap- 
point a chairman. 

The committee, thus organized, is under the 
same laws that govern assemblies, with the fol- 
lowing exceptions :— 

1. The previous question cannot be moved. 

2. The presiding officer of the assembly has 
the same privilege to take a part in the debate 
that the other members have, 

3. They cannot, like other committees, adjourn 
to some other time or place ; but when they rise, 
if their business is unfinished, they can ask per- 
mission of the assembly to sit again. 

4. They cannot refer any matter to a sub- 
committee. 

5. Members are not restricted as to the times 
of speaking. 

6. The yeas and nays cannot be called. 

7. There is no appeal from the decision of the 
chair on points of order. 

When the committee have finished the busi- 
ness referred to them, a member moves that the 



230 KULES OF CmPER. [Chap. VIII. 

committee rise, and that the chairman, or some 
other member, report their proceedings to the 
assembly, which, being carried, the president 
resumes his seat. The chairman should then 
say : " The Committee of the Whole have had 

under consideration the matter relating to , 

and have instructed me to report that," &c. The 
president then presents the report for the action 
of the assembly. If their business is unfinished, 
and it is resolved to rise, report progress, and 
ask leave to sit again, the chairman says : " The 
Committee of the Whole have had under con- 
sideration the subject of > — « — — ; but not having 
had time to complete the same, have instructed 
me to report that they have made progress 
therein, and beg leave to sit again." The presi- 
dent thereupon puts the question on giving the 
committee leave to sit again. If leave is not 
granted, the committee is of course dissolved. 

<%&.— Rules of the General Conference, from 

1836-1852. 

1. The conference shall meet at ■ o'clock, 

A. M., and adjourn at — ; but may alter 
their time of meeting, and adjourn at their dis- 
cretion. 

2. The president shall take the chair precisely 



Chap. VIIL1 RULES OF ORDER. 231 

at the hour to which the conference stood ad- 
journed, and cause the same to be opened by 
reading the Scriptures, singing, and prayer: 
and, on the appearance of a quorum, shall have 
the journals of the preceding day read and ap- 
proved, when the business of the conference 
shall proceed in the following order, namely :— 

a. Reports, first of the standing, and then of 
the select committees. 

h. Petitions, memorials, and appeals. 

3. The president shall decide all questions of 
order, subject to an appeal to the conference; 
but in case of such appeal, the question shall be 
taken without debate. 

4. He shall appoint all committees not other- 
wise specially ordered by the conference ; but 
any member may decline serving on more than 
one committee at the same time. 

5. All motions or resolutions introduced by 
any member shall be reduced to writing, if the 
president, secretary, or any two members re- 
quest it. 

6. When a motion or resolution is made and 
seconded, or a report is presented, and is read 
by the secretary, or stated by the president, it 
shall be deemed in possession of the conference ; 
but any motion or resolution may be withdrawn 



232 rules r 8 l [Chap, VIIL 

by the mover at any time before decision or 
amendment. 

7. Xo new motion or resolution shall be made 
until the one under consideration is disposed of; 
which may be done by adoption or rejection, 
unless one of the following motions should inter- 
vene, which motions shall have precedence in 
the order in which they are placed, namely : in- 
definite postponement, laying on the table, refer- 
ence to a committee, postponement to a given 
time, amendment, or a substitute, which also 
may be amended, 

8. Xo member shall be interrupted when 
speaking, except by the president, to call him 
to' order when he departs from the question, 
uses personalities or disrespectful language ; but 
any member may call the attention of the presi- 
dent to the subject when he deems a speaker 
out of order ; and any member may explain, if 
he thinks himself misrepresented. 

9. When any member is about to speak in 
debate, or to deliver any matter to the confer- 
ence 5 he shall rise from his seat, and respectfully 
address himself to the president, 

10. Xo person shall speak more than twice 
on the same question, nor more than fifteen 
minutes at one time, without leave of the 



Chap. VIIL] RULES OF ORDER. 233 

conference ; nor shall any person speak more 
than once until every member choosing to speak 
shall have spoken. 

11. When any motion or resolution shall have 
passed, it shall be in order for any member who 
voted in the majority to move for a reconsidera- 
tion. 

12. No member shall absent himself from the 
service of the conference without leave, unless 
he is sick, or unable to attend. 

13. No member shall be allowed to vote on 
any question who. is not within the bar at the 
time when such question is put by the president, 
except by leave of the conference, w r hen such 
member has been necessarily absent. 

14. Every member who shall be within the 
bar at the time the question is put, shall give 
his vote, unless the conference, for special rea- 
sons, excuse him, 

15. No resolution altering or rescinding any 
rule of Discipline shall be adopted until it shall 
have been at least one day in the possession of 
the conference. 

16. A motion to adjourn shall always be in 
order, and shall be decided without debate. 



234 



FORMULAS. 



LChap. IX, 



CHAPTER IX. 

FORMULAS. 

Section I.-— Formulas for Preachers in 
Charge. 

We would not attempt to settle the precise 
form in any given case, or intimate that 
other modes of expression may not be equally 
proper; but we submit the following brief 
forms, as general guides to young and inex- 
perienced pastors ; — 



I.— NOTE OF KECOMMENDATIOK TO A MEMBER. 



A, B., the bearer, has been an acceptable member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church on this circuit, (or 
station.) O e D,, Preacher in Charge. 

V , Few- York. 

Conference. 

April 10, 18 . 



S*0l.| FOR PREACHERS IN CHARGE. 235 

II,— EXHORTER8 LICENSE. 



This may certify that A, B,. the bearer, having been 
duly recommended by the class of which he is a 
member, is hereby authorized to hold meetings for 
prayer and exhortation in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church on N — — ■ Circuit, 

C. D,, Preacher in Charge, 

- , 1ST. Y, 

~ Conference, 

Jan. 1, 18 



In case of renewal, let it be signed by the presiding elder, 
or by the preacher in charge, as president of the Quarterly 
Conference, "by the approval of the Quarterly Confer- 
ence." 



III.— NOTE OF RECOMMENDATION TO A LOCAL PREACHER 



This may certify that A. B., the bearer, is a regularly 
authorized Local Preacher (Elder or Deacon) in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in D , N" Confer- 
ence. A. B., P. E. on E. Bis.. iV". Con., or 
CD., Pr. in Charge of J), Station. 
Jan. 1, 18 
D , N. H, 



236 



FORMULAS, 



[Chap. IX, 



IV.— CLASS-BOOK, 



Class-book, 
Xo. 1. 

D Circuit, 

X. Conference. 
C. B. ( Leader, 
T. V., 

P/'. f 1 ; 

Remember the fost 
on the F:. 
ceding each " quar- 
terly meeting. 
Jan, 1, 15 " , 


i i 


WE1IBEBS. 


1 


January, 


8 


1. 


8, 




M. F. 

ML F. 

M. F. 

w s r ; 

Q T 

6 T* 

^ t' 


C. D.. Loader. 

A. B 

E. F,..>.,„ 

a.H 

J. K.. 

L. M 

X. P 

E. S . . , 


P.sr..ir 
D, St. 5. 

k..:.,, 

8 ...... 

M 

P ...... 

§::;::: 


P- 
P- 

a. 
P- 
P- 
?• 
P- 
P- 


P- 

1 

?• 
P- 

P- 

a. 


P- 
P- 
P- 
P- 
B, 

P- 

d. 

P> 


$10 00 
10 00 
15 00 
10 00 

1 CO 
20 00 
5 00 

50 



AT.— Married. 
TV. — Widower, 



Abbreviations. 
Wd.— Widow. 

F. — Fall connexion, 
T — On trial 
p. — Present, 



a.=-Absent. 

s. — Sick. 

&— Out of town. 



V.— EEPOET OF TEE ft 9, TO THE CnTAETEELT CONFERENCE. 



Report of Sunday-School Statistics from the-Preacfier 
in Charge an 

to the Quarterly Conference, for 

the quarter ending 185 

Number of Sunday schools ...... 

dumber of officers and teachers , . . , . 

Number of scholars . , 

Number of volumes in library 

Number at Bible Classes ...,,,. 
Number of scholars in. infant classes, , , . 
Total expenses of the Schools this year, . . 
Amount raised for Sunday School Union . . 
Number of Sunday-School Advocates taken , 
Number of Conversions , . , 

EEMAEK3. 

Signed. 



Sec. I.] FOE PREACHERS IN CHARGE. 



237 



VL-CimnCII REGISTER FOR A SUCCESSOR. 
This should contain the names and residences of the 
local preachers, stewards, class-leaders, and exhorters ; the 
board of trustees, superintendents of Sabbath schools, and 
the members of the several classes; and also the general 
plan of the circuit, the time and place for Sabbath preach- 
ing, weekly lectures, and class and prayer-meetings. 



Til,— REGISTER OF THE CHILDREN, TO BE LEFT FOR A 
SUCCESSOR. 



Names. 


Parents. 


Residences. 


Remarks. 


A. D. 
E, F. 
G. H. 


C. B. 
K.L. 

M. K 


10 Laurel-st. 

5 Orange-st. 

6 Elni-st. 





CONFERENCE REPORTS. 

VIIL— STATISTICAL REPORT. 

JSTetoland Circuity K. Conference, for the year ending 
May , 18 . 

Members - 200 

Probationers 50 

Local Elders 1 

Local Deacons 2 

Local Preachers 4 



C. D., Preacher in Cliarge. 



238 FORMULAS. [Chap. IX, 

IX.— SUNDAY-SCHOOL REPORT. 



Report of Sunday- School Statistics from the Preacher 
in Charge on 

to the Annual Conference of 

the Methodist Episcopal Churchy for the year 
ending 185 



Number of Sunday schools . . 
Number of officers and teachers 
Number of scholars .... 
Number of volumes in library . 
Number of Bible classes . . . 
Number of scholars in infant classes 
Total expenses of the schools this year 
Amount raised for Sunday-School Un 
Number of Sunday-School Advocates taken 
Number of Conversions 



REMARKS. 
Signed, CD., Preacher in Charge. 



Sunday-School Statistics. 

1. Number of Sunday Schools. — This should not em- 
brace union schools, but only those under the supervision 
of the Quarterly Conferences. 

2. Infant Classes. — These embrace scholars too young 
to read or to learn their lessons from books, and hence are 
taught orally. 

3. Expenses of the School. — All legitimate expenses 
incurred in the establishment, enlargement, and support 
of Sunday schools, whether in renting or constructing 
buildings for their accommodation, or in procuring books 
and papers for the schools. It does not embrace what is 
given to or received from the Sunday-School Union. 

4. Amount raised foe the Sunday-School Union. — 
The total amount raised by the school and congregation, 
and actually paid over to the officers of the Union. 



Sec. I.] FOE PREACHERS IN CHARGE. 



239 



X.— COLLECTIONS FOK BENEVOLENT OBJECTS. 

For American Bible Society. 
" Missionary Society. 
" Sunday-School Union. 
41 Fifth Collection. 
iC Necessitous Cases. 
" Tract Society, &c. 
Money for benevolent objects should be carefully done 
up in separate parcels, and distinctly labelled, as follows : — 



$100. 




MISSIONARY 


MONEY. 


NEWLAND crRCTTlT. 


CD., Pi\ 


in Charge. 



$100. 

AMER. BIBLE SOCIETY. 

XEWLAtfD CIRCUIT. 

C. D., Pr. in Charge. 



XL-STEWARD'S CERTIFICATE. 



Certificate of the estimate and disbursement of the 
Newland Circuit for C. D., Preacher in Charge, 
for the conference year ending May 1, 18 

ESTIMATE. 



Quarterage 

Travelling expenses 20 

Honse-rent 100 

Fuel 35 

Table expenses 115 

Total $500 

Whole claim paid 500 

C. B, 
B. B., 
PS, 
K.R, J 



Stew arils. 



240 



FORMULAS. 



_Cliap. IX, 



XIL— BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS, 



MEMBERSHIP. 



. . \ Annual 
Societies, - 

Membership. 


Life 
Membership. 


Director 
for Life. 


Manager 
for Life, 


Patron 
for Life. 


American Bible Society. j $3 
Missionary- Societv of the 

1C E. Church. ' 2 

Sunday-School Union of 

the M. EL Church | 1 

Tract Societv of the M. E. i 

Church 1 


$30* 

10* 
10* 


$150 
50 

25 


$150* 


$500 ; 





* At one time. 



XIII.-WILLS, 
As ministers are frequently called npon to write or ad- 
vise in reference to the making of Trills, we subjoin the 
following :— 

I.— Commencement of Wills* 

In the name of God. Amen, 

I, (A. B,, of C« , &c.,) being of sound mind and 

memory, do make, publish, and declare this my last will 
and testament. 

II. — Bequests and Devises. 

Let these be arranged in order, thus: "First. I give and 
bequeath unto — — the sum of — dollars, and the re- 
ceipt of the treasurer of the Society shall be a sufficient 
discharge therefor to my executors ;' : or, "I give and de- 
vise the following (here describe the property) to the 

trustees of , and its use to be controlled by the said 

trustees, or their successors in office, for the use and benefit 

of 'J 1 (Here state the benevolent object to which it 

shall be applied.) 

III. — Appointment of Executor and in testimonium. \ 

And I do hereby appoint C. D., of "W* , to be the 

sole executor of this my last will and testament, hereby 



Sec. L] FOR PREACHERS IN CHARGE. 241 

revoking, annulling, and declaring void all former wills by 
me at any time heretofore made. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and 
seal this day of , &c. 

IV. — Attestation of Wills. 

Signed, sealed, and declared by the said A. B. to be his 
last will and testament in the presence of us, who, at his 
request, and in his presence, and in the presence of each 
other, have hereunto subscribed our names and respective 
places of residence as witnesses. 

M.M,ofC , ] ~~ 

P. 5L, o f0 , A. B. U. b.J 

M.K, ofO— . J ~*^ 

(Let there be three witnesses.) 

If the will be signed by a third person for the testator, 
the attestation should be as follows : — 

Signed hj the said E. F. in our presence, and in the 
presence of the said A. B., and by his express direction, 
and by the said A, B. at the same time, published and de- 
clared as his last will and testament in the presence of the 
said E. F. and of us, who each, in the presence of the other 
and of the said A. B., and of the said E. F., have hereunto 
set our hands as subscribing witnesses. 
16 



242 FORMULAS. [Chap. IX, 

Section II. — Formulas for Presiding Elders. 

I.— LICENSE OF A LOCAL PREACHER. 



To all whom it may concern. 

This may certify that A. B., the bearer, having 
been duly recommended by the society of which he 
is a member, and having been examined by us con- 
cerning his gifts, grace, and usefulness, is judged by 
us to be a proper person to be licensed, and is here- 
by authorized to preach the gospel. 

Done at a Quarterly Conference held at Newland, 
this second day of May, A. D. one thousand 
eight hundred and 

Signed by order and in behalf of said conference. 

X. M., Secretary. C. P., Presiding Elder. 



II.— RECOMMENDATION TO THE TRAVELLING CONNEXION. 



To the Bishop and members of the A". Conference, 

to be held at Z— , May 1, 18 
Dear Fathers and Brethren,— 

We, the members of the Quarterly Conference of 
Kewland Circuit, being acquainted with the gifts, 
grace, and usefulness of our brother £T. P., do hereby 
recommend him as a suitable person to be admitted 
on trial in the travelling connexion, he having been 
examined by us on the subject of doctrines and disci- 
pline. 
Done at a Quarterly Conference held at Kewland, 
April 1,18 , and signed by order and in behalf 
of said conference. 
K. F., Secretary. D. G., Presiding Elder. 



A recommendation to the travelling connexion is not invalid if it has not 
been countersigned by the secretary ; but all important documents of the 
Quarterly Conference should receive the signature of the president and 
secretary. 



Sec. IL] FOR PRESIDING ELDERS. 243 

IIL— RECOMMENDATION FOR DEACON OR ELDERS ORDERS. 



To the Bishop and members of the JV". Conference^ 
to be held at Gf- , May 1, 18 

Dear Fathers and Brethren,— 

We, the members of the Quarterly Conference of 
Newland Circuit, being acquainted with the gifts, 
grace, and usefulness of our brother N. P., do here- 
by recommend him as a suitable person to be or- 
dained deacon (or elder) in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, he having been for four consecutive years a 
regularly licensed local preacher, (or having held the 
office of deacon for four consecutive years,) and hav- 
ing been examined before us on the subject of doc- 
trines and discipline. 

Done at a Quarterly Conference held at Newland, 
Jan. 1,18 , and signed in behalf of said Quar- 
terly Conference, P. G. 5 Presiding Elder. 

S. H., Secretary. 



If the local deacon cannot attend the annual conference, 
he must subscribe his name to a note like the following, 
which should be appended to the preceding recommenda- 
tion :— * 



This may certify that I firmly believe the doctrines 
taught by the Methodist Episcopal Church, and cor- 
dially approve of her form of Discipline. 

JS r etcland ) Jan. 1, 18 KP, 



It is recommended that in all cases the signature 
of the local deacon be appended to a note like the 
above, whether he can or cannot attend the animal 
conference. 



244 FORMULAS. [Chap. IX, 

IV.— RECOMMENDATION FOR RECOGNITION OF ORDERS. 

To the Bishop and members of the N. Conference, to 

he held at C , May 1, 18 

Dear Fathers and Brethren, — 

This is to certify that A. B. has been admitted as 
a local preacher on the 2sevrland Circuit, and he, 
having been ordained to the office of elder according 

to the usages of the C Church, of Avhich he has 

been a member and minister, is hereby recommended 
as a suitable person to be recognised as an elder in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, he having been ex- 
amined by us on his agreement with the doctrines, 
discipline, government, and usages of our Church. 

Done at a Quarterly Conference held at Newlancl, 
April 1, 18 , and signed by order and in be- 
half of said conference. 

Hi F., Secretary, D, G., Presiding Elder. 

Y.— RECOMMENDATION FOR RESTORATION OF CRE- 
DENTIALS. 

To the Bishop and members of If. Conference, to be 
held at C , April 1, 18 . 

Deaj>v Fathers and Brethren,— 

We, the members of the Quarterly Conference of 
Xevvdand Circuit, hereby recommend the restoration 
of the credentials of IT H., he having been admitted 
as a local preacher on the STewland Circuit, and hav- 
ing been examined by us on the subject of doctrines 
and discipline. 

Done at a Quarterly Conference held at Newland, 
March 1, 18 , and signed by order and in be- 
half of said conference. 

P. It, Secretary. C. G., Presiding Elder. 



Sec. II] FOR PRESIDING ELDERS. 245 

VI.— SUPERANNUATED PREACHER'S CERTIFICATE. 



To the Bishop and members of the JV. Conference, to 
be held at L , May 1, 18 

Dear Fathers and Brethren,— 

This may certify that A, B, has resided during the 
past year within the hounds of the O. Circuit, H. 
District, N". Conference, and sustained an irreproach- 
able Christian and ministerial character. Brother B. 
has a wife and one child, under seven years of age, 
and also one between the ages of seven and fourteen 
years, and, in my judgment, requires for their sup- 
port his full disciplinary allowance. 

C. D., Presiding Elder of H. Dist,, or 
A. L., Pr. in Charge on 0. Circuit. 
0., March 1, 18 . 



24t3 COURSE OF STUDY. [Chap. X, 



CHAPTER X. 
COURSE OF STUDY, 

Section I. — For Probationers and Travelling 
Deacons in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 

FIRST YEAR. 
The Bible— Doctrines. 

The Existence of God; the Attributes of God, 
namely, Unity, Spirituality, Eternity, Omnipo- 
tence. Ubiquity, Omniscience, Immutability, 
"Wisdom, Truth, Justice, AEercy, Love. G : 
ness, Holiness ; the Trinity in Unity ; the Deity 
of Christ ; the Humanity of Christ ; the Union 
of Deity and Humanity ; Personality and Deity 
of the Holy Ghost ; Depravity ; Atonement ; 
Eepentance ; Justification by Faith ; Regenera- 
tion ; Adoption ; the Witness of the Spirit ; 
Growth in Grace ; Christian Perfection ; Possi- 
bility of Final Apostasy; Immortality of the 
Soul; Resurrection of the Body; General Judg- 
ment; Rewards and Punishments. 



Sec. 1.1 PROBATIONERS AND DEACONS. 247 

[The examination on the above to be strictly 
Biblical, requiring the candidate to give the 
statement of the doctrine and the Scripture 
proofs. To prepare for this he should read the 
Bible by course, and make a memorandum of 
the texts upon each of these topics as he pro- 
ceeds.] 

Systematic Divinity. 

Watson's Institutes, First Part ; Wesley's 
Plain Account of Christian Perfection, 

Common English. 
English Grammar ; Modern Geography. 

Composition. 
Essay or Sermon. 

[Read Wesley's Sermons and Notes; Wat- 
son's Life of Wesley ; and Watson's Apology.] 

SECOND YEAR. 

The Bible — Sacraments. 

The Sacrament of Baptism — its Nature, De- 
sign, Obligation, Subjects, and Mode; the 
Sacrament of he Lord's Supper — its Nature, 
Design, and Obligation. 



24:S COURSE OF STUDY, [Chap. X, 

[Mode of study and examination same as 
upon the Bible in the first year.] 

Systematic Divinity. 

Watson's Institutes, Second Part; Peck's 
Christian Perfection, new 12mo. edition ; Fletch- 
er's Appeal. 

Church Government. 

Methodist Discipline ; Stevens's Church Pol- 
ity* 

Composition. 
Essay or Sermon. 

[Bead Bishop Emory's Defence of our Fathers ; 
Powell on Apostolical Succession ; Dr. Emory's 
History of the Discipline ; Wesley on Original 
Sin, and Wesley's Doctrinal Tracts ; Johnston's 
Natural Philosophy."*] 

THIRD YEAR. 

The Bible — History and Chronology. 

Candidates to be prepared upon the leading 
events recorded in the Old and New Testa- 
ments. 



Seal.] PROBATIONERS AND DEACONS. 249 

Reference Books: Home's Introduction and 
Hibbard's Palestine. 

Systematic Divinity. 

Watson's Institutes, Third Part; Butler's 
Analogy ; Peck's Rule of Faith ;* Hibbard on 
Baptism.* 

History, &c. 

Ruter's Church History; Tytler's General 
History ;* Newman's Rhetoric ; Hedge's Logic. 

Composition. 
Essay or Sermon. 

[Read Bangs's History of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church ; Elliott on Romanism ;* Fletcher's 
Works; Rollin's Ancient History;* Smith's 
Patriarchal Age ; Hallam's Middle Ages ;* Rus- 
sell's Modern Europe.*] 

FOURTH YEAR. 

Review of the whole course. 

Systematic Divinity. 
Watson's Institutes, Fourth Part. 



250 COURSE OF STUDY. [.Chap. X, 

Preaching. 

Claude's Essay on the Composition and De- 
livery of a Sermon. 

Biblical Criticism. 
Home's Introduction, abridged. 

Composition. 
Essay or Sermon. 

[Eead Smith's Hebrew People; Mosheim's 
Ecclesiastical History ; Townley's Illustrations 
of Biblical Literature ; Watson's Sermons ; His- 
tory of the United States.] 

Note. — Those works in the course marked with an asterisk 
are optional with the annual conferences. Those so marked 
among the books to be read are recommended as highly im- 
portant, but are not enjoined. The examination as to the 
other works required to be read, but not included in the 
course of study, shall extend only to the fact of reading. 



Sec. II.] LOCAL PREACHERS. 251 

Section II. — For Local Preachers who are Can- 
didates for Deacon and Elder* s Orders. 

CANDIDATES FOR DEACON'S ORDERS. 

The Bible — Doctrines. 

The Existence of God ; the Attributes of God, 
namely, Unity, Spirituality, Eternity, Omnipo- 
tence, Ubiquity, Omniscience, Immutability, 
Wisdom, Truth, Justice, Mercy, Love, Goodness, 
Holiness; the Trinity in Unity; the Deity of 
Christ; the Humanity of Christ ; the Union of 
Deity and Humanity; Personality and Deity of 
the Holy Ghost; Depravity; Atonement; Re- 
pentance ; Justification by Faith ; Regeneration ; 
Adoption ; the Witness of the Spirit ; Growth in 
Grace ; Christian Perfection ; Possibility of Final 
Apostasy ; Immortality of the Soul ; Resurrec- 
tion of the Body ; General Judgment ; Rewards 
and Punishments, 

The Bible — Sacraments. 

The Sacrament of Baptism — its Nature, De- 
sign, Obligation, Subjects, and Mode; the Sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper — its Nature, Design, 
and Obligation. 



COURSE OF STUDY. [Chap. X, 

[The examination on the above subjects is to be 
strictly Biblical, requiring the candidate to give 
the statement of the doctrine and the Scripture 
proofs. To prepare for this he should read the 
Bible by course, and make a memorandum of 
the texts upon each of these topics as he pro- 
ceeds.] 

Systematic Divinity. 

Watson's Institutes, Parts First and Second ; 
Wesley's Plain Account of Christian Perfection ; 
Fletcher's Appeal. 

Church Government 
Methodist Discipline. 

Common English. 
English Grammar ; Modern Geography. 

[Eead Watson's Life of Wesley; Wesley's 
Sermons; Emory's Defence of our Fathers; 
Powell on Apostolical Succession.] 



Sec. 11.1 LOCAL PREACHERS. 253 

CANDIDATES FOR ELDER'S ORDERS. 
Review of the .previous course. 

Bible — History. 

The leading events recorded in the Old and 
New Testaments. 

Systematic Divinity. 
"Watson's Institutes, Parts Third and Fourth. 

Composition. 
An Essay or Sermon. 

[Read Fletcher's Checks; Smith's Hebrew 
People ; Ruter's Church History ; Porter's Com- 
pendium of Methodism.] 

It is not required that candidates be examined 
on any of the books which are merely recom- 
mended to be read. 



THE END. 



WORKS PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 

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Father Reeves. 

Father Reeves, the Methodist Class-leader : a Brief 
Account of Mr. William Reeves, thirty-four Years a Class- 
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18mo., pp. 160. Muslin SO 18 

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The narrative presents one of the most interesting developments 
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A little volume which we should be glad to know had come into 
the hands of every officer of our societies of that honoured class 
to which Mr, Reeves belonged-— Watchman. 

Let " Father Reeves " pass along through all our congregations; 
he will leave a Messing wherever he goes. It is just the book 
to stir up the Church. A hundred thousand volumes should be 
scattered at once. — Rev. Abet Stevens. 

One of the richest of those "Annals of the Poor 1 * which illus- 
trate so beautifully the history of Methodism as Christianity. . . 
"We trust it will find readers by thousands upon thousands. — 
Methodist Quarterly Review. 

The Philosophy of Faith 
Philosophy and Practice of Faith By Lewis P. Olds. 
12mo., pp. 353. Muslin SO 65 

Part I. A General View of Faith — Pure, Simple, or intellectual 
Faith-— Practical, Relying, or Saving Faith — The Unity of Faith 
— A Living Faith and a I>ead Faith— Unbelief the Native Con- 
dition of the Mind — Walk by Faith— The Three Antagonisms 
of Faith— Faith and Works— Increase and Diminution of 
Faith. 

Part IL Ancient and Modern Faith compared— Faith of Na* 
tions — Congregational Faith— Faith of the Christian Ministry 
-Prayer and Faith— Faith of the Cloister — Faith of Active 
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in Prosperity— Faith in Adversity — Faith in Life and in Death. 

This book belongs to a class that has been rare of late years. 
It is a calm, thoughtful, yet itncontroversial survey of a great 
Christian doctrine in its bearings upon theology in general, and 
upon the Christian life in practice. We hope it may find many 
readers.— Methodist Quarterly MevievJ. 



WORKS PUBLISHED BY CABLTON & PHILLIPS, 
If .ilberry -street, New- York. 

Memoir of Rev. S. B. Bangs. 

The YotHtt Meststee : or, Memoirs and Eemains of Stephen 
Beekman Bansrs. of the New-York East Conference. By 
W, H. N . Magpxejee, M. A. With a Portrait. 

12mo,, pp. 388, Muslin $0 70 

There are some classes who may derive peculiar profit from a study 
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kind training of their children. And finally, all may be stimu- 
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History of the Inquisition. 

The Bea:n~d oe Dominic : cr, Inquisition at Eome " Supreme 
and Universal/' By Rev. Wttttam H. Rtjle. With five 
Engravings. 

12mo,, pp s 392. Muslin • ■ • $0 75 

This small volume should be in the hands of every one who 
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Quarterly Review. 

We cannot know too much of that horrible and Satanic insti- 
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hives of the Popes. 

The Lives oe tee Pgeeh, From A. D. 100 to A. D. 1853. 
From the London Edition. 

12mo,, pp. 566, Muslin.-.. 80 80 

We take pleasure in placing the work before American readers in 
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